Augnst 2 ,1888. ]: 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
99 
funnel-shaped corolla having a rich, bluish-purple centre in the form 
of a star, and it is also bordered with a broad pure white margin. The 
flowers are produced in the greatest profusion from June until frost. 
This Ipomoea is a plant easily cultivated, doing best in a moderately 
enriched deep soil and a sunny situation. It does best when started 
under glass, and the seed should be sown about the 1st of April in a 
well drained pot or pan tilled with rich loamy soil. Sow thinly and 
cover slightly, place in any warm moist situation close to the glass, 
and as soon as the young plants are strong enough to handle carefully 
repot them into 3-inch pots ; pinch back the leading shoots frequently, 
and gradually expose to the open air, and plant out as soon as all 
danger of frost is over and the weather has become warm and settled. 
Support must be given before the plants commence running, and during 
the growing season they should be frequently examined, and the young 
shoots trained so as to occupy the required space, whether to cover 
latticework, trellis, or pillars. In dry weather the plants are sometimes 
attacked by the red spider, and as soon as this pest is noticed they 
should be freely and frequently syringed. Seeds are very freely pro¬ 
duced, and by this means the plant is increased." 
Cassell’s “ Familiar Trees ” for August deals with The Box, 
and in the course of the chapter the following remarks occur —■“ Keckless 
destruction of both the commoner and the more valuable kinds of timber 
trees has been, and is, only too frequent in all parts of the world. In 
not a few cases its effects are already being experienced in an insufficient 
supply of wood either for general use or for some special purposes. The 
rapidly increasing demand for the wood of the Box, especially for en¬ 
graving, and the carelessness in the past as to the Caucasian forests of 
this timber, have now for some years excited apprehensions among the 
consumers and stimulated inquiry as to suitable substitutes for this 
material. The wood is remarkably heavy, being the only European 
timber that will sink in water ; it is yellow, very hard, compact, and 
even grained, so as to be susceptible of a fine polish. It is still em¬ 
ployed both here and on the Continent, for a variety of purposes besides 
wood-engraving, for which art, however, the finest quality of Boxwood 
is mainly reserved. It is used for inlaying, for mathematical instru¬ 
ments, especially foot-rules, for weaving-shuttles, and other turned 
articles. Some of these, however, are made at St. Claude, not from the 
stem, but from the root, the wood of which is often beautifully veined. 
The art of wood-engraving is older than that of printing, the old 
block-books, such as the “ Biblia Pauperum ” of the first half of the 
fifteenth century, being engraved on a series of large blocks. It is, 
however, only since the time of Bewick that wood-engraving has become 
general as a means of book illustration ; as possibly the introduction of 
the many photographic and electrotypic processes now in vogue may 
afford a solution of the difficulty as to the supply of Boxwood in the 
future. Some Boxwood can, undoubtedly, be procured from India and 
the Cape ; and of the various substitutes suggested, whilst our own 
Hawthorn seems the best, Pear, the American Dogwood (Cornus florida), 
the Texas Ebony (Diospyros texana), and the West Indian Trumpet- 
flower (Tecoma pentaphylla) all promise to prove useful.” 
- Me. E. L. Layaed, British Consulate, writing to Nature on 
THE Dispeesion of Seeds and Plants, has the following in¬ 
teresting remarks respecting Mr. Morris’s article on this subject, which 
has been previously noticed :—“ Thousands of acres of pasturage have 
been destroyed in this island by.the distribution by birds of the Lantana, 
which was unfortunately introduced here by the first Roman Catholic 
missionaries to form a hedge for their property at St. Louis or Concep¬ 
tion. The Gendarme plant (an Asclepiad) was brought here in a pillow 
by a Gendarme from Tahiti. It was a seed attached to a wing of silk 
cotton. The gendarme shook out his pillow ; the wind carried the seed 
to a suitable spot, and now it vies with the Lantana in destroying our 
pastures. I have shot the great fruit pigeons of Fiji and this island 
with several seeds of the Canarium (?) in their crops, as Mr. Morris says, 
as big as hen’s eggs. The seeds of water-plants are conveyed, with the 
eggs of fresh-water Mollusca, to vast distances, adhering to the hairs 
and feathers of the legs of water birds—ducks, herons, and waders of all 
sorts. In London the basins of the fountains in Trafalgar Square were 
peopled by Lymnea brought thither from the Serpentine, attached to 
the feathers of the sparrows who bathed, first in one, anil then in the 
other. Another plant which occurs to me as being largely indebted to 
man for its distribution, is that known as the Cape Gooseberry, which 
js a native of South America. The Kaffirs call it the ‘ white man’s 
plant,’ and say it follows the white man everywhere. I know it is 
found in India, Ceylon, Africa, Fiji, New Caledonia, New Hebrides. I 
really believe boiling it into jam does not destroy the vitality of the 
seeds. We have a plant here, bearing a lovely flower, but whence it 
comes no one knows. It has hard wooden seed capsules, each furnished 
with two hooks as hard as steel and as sharp as needles. These, 
hooking into the hide of any animal, would be carried for days 
until forcibly dislodged. The Bathurst burr (Xanthium spinosum) 
was introduced into the Cape in a cargo of wool wrecked at Cape 
Lagulhas, and spread out to dry, first there and then at Simon’s Town, 
at both of which places the 1 burr ’ sprang up. I believe and hope I 
destroyed the first and last plant of it that sprang up in New Zealand 
some twenty-five years ago. The seed had been brought in the living 
fleece of a fine merino ram. The owner was cherishing the ‘wonderful 
new plant,’ and was not a little horrified when I took out my knife and 
cut it down. He was more horrified when I told him what it was.’’ 
WEIGHTS OF STRAWBERRIES. 
In reply to your correspondent “ Saxoring ” I give below the 
■weights of ten different varieties of Strawberries taken this 
season. 
Name. 
No. of 
berries in 
{lb. 
Average 
weight 
per berry. 
Heaviest 
individual 
berry. 
Ounces. 
Ounces. 
1, Black Prince . 
19 
0-21 
033 
2, Wizard of the North . 
12 
0-33 
0-50 
3, Elton Pine . 
9 
0-44 
0-66 
4, Vicomtesse de Thury. 
7 
0-57 
100 
5, Filbert Pine. 
6 
0-66 
0-90 
6, Sir Harry. 
5 
0-80 
1-00 
7, British Queen . 
5 
0-80 
1-25 
8, Sir Joseph Paxton . 
5 
0-80 
1 33 
9, President . 
4 
1-00 
1-25 
10, James Veitch . 
3 
1-22 
1-75 
The above are fair average samples, chiefly grown on one and two- 
year-old plants. The Vicomtesse Hericart de Thury were especially 
fine, being grown on maidens planted out last August. Sir Joseph 
Paxton were much inferior to previous years. Of others, Keens’ 
Seedling may be classed with No. 4, Dr. Hogg with No. 7, and 
Marguerite with No. 9. I never saw a Strawberry that weighed 
4 ozs., but have often seen them turn the scale at 2 ozs. Even then 
the berries must be 2 inches through the thickest part at least, as a 
cubic inch of solid fruit only weighs about half an ounce. It would 
be interesting to learn the weights of the new varieties. King of 
the Earlies with us ranges with No. 3 on the above list. Noble, I 
suppose, will be equal to James Veitch. The above list does not 
pretend to be complete, and the record of a number of years would 
possibly alter the figures. They are, however, approximate, and 
may serve the purposes of your correspondent.— John Lovel, 
Driffield. 
CULTURE OF EPACRISES. 
Epackises, which may be considered as the Heaths of Australia, 
are much more accommodating than Ericas, the true Heaths of South 
Africa, as they will pass uninjured in an atmosphere that would not 
disagree with a general collection, when the Heath proper would be 
ruined for want of a current of fresh air, and, in consequence, become 
a prey to mildew with all its attendant evils. Both in their native 
countries are found to thrive best in open, exposed situations. Both 
are exposed to heavy rains at times ; but also to long periods of bright 
sunshine and very warm weather. The one excites rapidity of growth, 
the other ripens and consolidates the wood. Such modes may be 
followed in this country by the experienced in the case of both 
families ; but the inexperienced would find that in a close, warm 
atmosphere the Heath would become lanky and encrusted with 
mildew, whilst the Epacris would maintain its health and vigour. In 
other words, the latter will stand uninjured more extremes of heat and 
cold, of dry and moist air, and dryness and moisture at the roots, than 
the Erica. 
One advantage of the whole Epacris group is, that whether what is 
called species, or beautiful garden florist-raised varieties, the most of 
them bloom in the spring, and if treated for the purpose might just as 
easily be made to bloom in winter. Many of them without anything 
like extra attention will begin to open their blooms after Christmas if 
the average night temperature is seldom below 45°. 
We will first direct our attention to pruning, and describe two 
