May 1C, 1889. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
399 I 
numerous. Some of these are distinguished by their pleasant aromatic 
odour, but in others it becomes so powerful as to be almost offensive, 
Three genera in particular which, as their names indicate, possess a 
strongly marked odour both in their flowers and leaves, are Agathosma, 
Barosma, and Diosma. Of these the first and last are the most agree¬ 
able, and Agathosma rugosa, with'its variety alba, is not only very 
pleasantly scented but it is also a useful and easily grown plant. It is 
of compact bushy habit, the leaves small linear and slightly hairy, with 
small purplish mauve flowers in dense terminal clusters. In the variety 
alba the flowers are white, but the other form is rather more attractive. 
As in many white varieties of such plants the flowers are not very pure. 
One species of Agathosma (A. pulchella) is said to be employed by the 
Hottentots for anointing their bodies, but it does not improve their 
attractions from a European point of view. The Barosmas are not 
much grown, their odour is too powerful, and though the Diosmas are 
better in this respect they mostly have very small flowers. 
- Planting out Richardia ;ethiopica. —The Arum Lily, 
although so well known, is not always grown to the best advantage. 
We often see half-starved plants grown in too much heat and kept in 
small pots, which gives them a weak appearance, but if planted out of 
doors all the summer and then lifted, a profusion of bloom during 
winter and spring will be the result. Anyone having a stock of plants, 
however small, will do well to take them in hand at once, and withhold 
water for a week or two until all danger of frost is over. They should 
then be turned out of their pots and have all the old soil shaken away 
from their roots, and planted out singly in trenches like Celery on a 
well manured piece of ground that is fully exposed to the sun. They 
will require very little attention all the summer. As the old foliage dies 
away fine healthy growth will be substituted. About the end of 
September lift and pot them in some rich soil, using rather large pots so 
as not to injure their roots, and place in a house kept at about 50°, with 
plenty of light. Flowers will soon appear, and if the plants are well 
supplied with liquid manure a succession of bloom will be kept up for 
many months. Richardias are gross feeders, and should never be 
allowed to get dry after they are planted out, or green fly will soon 
attack them. 
- Mr. Alexander Sweet has sent us a copy of his work on 
Villa and Cottage Gardening, “specially adapted for' Scotland 
and Northern England.” It is very unsystematic, yet most of the 
teaching appears sound. The chapter on trenching land seems almost 
laboured in attempts at plainness ; and if we understand it rightly, the 
method advised is burying the top foot of land in the bottom of a trench 
2 feet deep, the lower foot of subsoil being placed on the top of that 
which has been previously enriched and ameliorated. We know of no 
method more laborious and costly than that is of “improving” soil, and 
the best way we know of dealing with land thus trenched is to turn it 
over again before sowing or planting. We agree with the following 
sentiments :—“ From the garden of the sluggard we all turn away, but 
linger with delight in the garden of the wise man, who has laid out, dug, 
planted, watered, and tended his flowers with forethought, energy, and 
skill. Still, if anything needs looking after, and ahead, too, it is a 
garden. Whoever can order it aright is not one to be asleep in afEairs. To 
see all the powers of Nature responding to the thought and toil one puts 
into the ground is about as much pleasure as a man will get out of 
any hobby or recreation within reach of ordinary mortals.” It is 
published by Walter Scott & Co., London and Newcastle-on-Tyne. 
- County Council Elections. — On this subject a County 
Councillor writes :—“ The vexed question of qualifications for County 
electors is an important one. During last year's registration overseers 
were in doubt as to which division they should enter labourers who 
were living in houses kept by the farmers for their men, the rent of 
which was part of their wages. The large majority of overseers entered 
them in division 1, thus giving them both Parliamentary and Council 
votes, but some few entered them in division 2, thus giving them the 
Parliamentary vote only. As neither political agent objected to either 
list, and being the first year of the new Act, the Revising Barrister did 
not alter them, but gave his opinion that in future such voters should 
be in division 2, as not entitled to the County vote. If a ratepayer has 
the right to vote on Imperial matters, surely he should be able to vote 
on local affairs ; but as the law is read at present such is not the case. 
The question might easily be settled if section 3 of the Reform Act, 
1884, was allowed to apply to the Act passed last year. This enacts 
that, 1 Where a man ^himself inhabits any dwelling-house by virtue of 
any office or employ—nt, and the dwelling-house is not inhabited by 
any person under whom such man serves in such office, service, or em¬ 
ployment, he shall be deemed for the purpose of this Act and of the 
Representation of the People Acts, to be an inhabitant occupier of such 
dwelling-house as a tenant.’—(48 Viet., c. 3, sec. 3). It is to be hoped 
something of the same kind will be adopted before the next Registration 
Court commence their duties.” There is no wonder that many gardeners 
object to the arrangement which denies them a privilege which can be 
exercised by labourers under them. This is not a question of party 
politics but of electoral inequalities, and if labourers have the right to 
vote in local elections surely gardeners, who are their superiors in 
intelligence, ought to be placed in a similar position. 
ALLOTMENT GARDENING AT NOTTINGHAM. 
I claim to be heard, Mr. Editor. Of course we all know that Mr. 
Wright, with his usual modesty, would, in the Journal of Horticulture, 
dismiss his visit to our town with a curt paragraph, stating that 
“he had been to Nottingham and read a paper, and there was a good 
meeting, &c., &c.” That was so certainly, but his visit and his lecture 
were much more than that. Let me try to describe. As one of the 
executive of the Notts Horticultural and Botanical Society I was rather 
fearful that Mr. Wright’s visit might be a failure audience-wise, seeing 
that his paper was not to the professional gardeners (except indirectly), 
but was to the great body of allotment gardeners ; and as the time of 
the year was just the busiest time for them, I was afraid that they 
would not leave their gardens, and that we should not command such an 
audience as we ought to have even to hear a lecture on such a subject as- 
“ Allotment Gardens, their Advantages and Utilisation. ’ Our officers, 
specially Mr. Haywood, Chairman of Committee, and Mr. Steward, the 
Secretary, thought otherwise, and it was mainly through their exertions, 
that there was so good an attendance in the Arboretum rooms of just the 
right sort of people—the real allotment gardeners of the town, from the 
clerk and lace hand to the bricklayer and labourer, with a sprinkling 
of professional gardeners. The Chairman, Mr. W. II. Farmer, the Pre¬ 
sident of the Society, who presided in the absence of the Mayor, very 
promptly but briefly called the meeting to order, and introduced Mr_ 
Wright, who inquired as a first utterance, “ How long time he might 
take?” and was told by the Chairman, who rightly jadged both 
reader, subject, and audience, “ that he shou’d have his fling.” Mr. 
Wright put himself in touch with his audience in the first page of his 
paper, and through all the fifty minutes of his reading he he hi his 
hearers listening with that close attention which does not want to miss a 
word, and which only broke the pauses for breath and the refreshing 
sip of water, with the hearty approval of hands and feet. The ap¬ 
plause at the conclusion of the reading was loud and long. I cannot 
go into the paper, except to say it was a model of what a garden¬ 
ing paper should be. We shall know of it no doHbt through the 
pages of the Journal. At its close, however, and when the hearers found 
their voices, there was only one opinion, and that was that it was too 
good to be only heard, that it ought to be printed in order fcq be read 
again by those who had heard it, and that others who had not had the 
good fortune to hear it might be able to profit by it. A few very per¬ 
tinent questions were asked by the amateur gardeners and replied to by 
Mr. Wright, to the great satisfaction of all. We, the profeasional 
gardeners, kept ourselves quiet, rightfully and gladly esnsidefing that 
we were in a subordinate position on this occasion, and the only pro¬ 
fessional speaker was Mr. Charles Pearson of the Chilwell Nurseries, 
who proposed the vote of thanks to Mr. Wright for his paper at the close 
of the evening.—N. H. Pownall, Lenton Hall Gardens. 
[Mr. Wright desires to state that he “ would have preferred thanking 
Mr. Pownall for his too generous tribute, not publishing this letter, but 
dutifully complies with the kindly expressed wish of his honoured 
chief—the proprietor of this Journal.” The lecture will be published.] 
FRARCOA RAMOS A. 
This is one of the most beautiful of cultivated plants, and 
although not by any means new, yet judging from the inquiries 
made by people who see it in flower it is not much grown. In 
Paxton’s Botanical Dictionary it is described as hardy, and pro¬ 
pagated only by seeds. I have not proved its hardiness, but the 
other matter is not correct, as there is no difficulty in increasing it 
by division. However, though it may be hardy I do not think 
anything will be lost in treating this species as a greenhouse plant, 
the purity of the flowers being better preserved under glass. Small 
plants may be grown in 5 or 6 inch pots, and when the flower 
spikes begin to extend short stakes should be placed to each and 
the under portion of each stem tied thereto, leaving the upper 
portion with the flowering branches to grow naturally. Large 
plants can be successfully grown in pots 10 to 12 inches in diameter,. 
! and if potted in good friable loam with a third of manure 
added, the plant may be left in the same pot for several years. 
When established thus the growths extend over the edges of the 
pot and droop, but in this condition it is somewhat difficult to 
secure the growing flower spikes. Where there is plenty of room 
the better plan is to insert a few short sticks in the middle and 
