422 
THE COTTAGE GAEDENER. 
Makch 
I According to Dr. Siebold, the country people of Japan 
j eat the fruit of another called hexaphylla, as 
1 ours do the hramhle-herries, on account of their sweetish 
watery taste, and the juice is one of their domestic me¬ 
dicines for sore eyes. I never saw this plant till tlie 
winter of 1851 and 1852, when I found a large old plant 
of it growing over every thing that was near it, in one 
of the coldest places in Surrey, Kingston Hill, where 
Mr. Jackson has his principal stock of the more hardy 
trees and shruhs. This plant was one of the first seed¬ 
lings which Mr. Jackson reared. There is a nice plant 
of it in one of the college gardens at Oxford, and I saw 
two plants of it set against two large handsome ash 
trees in the new garden of Mr. Sturgeon, the great 
breeder of Shanghae Fowls, whose celebrated stock I 
had a longing desire to see, and, if I am not mistaken, 
his new garden will soon be as unique and celebrated as 
his “ Imperial Buffs” and “Cinnamons.” At all events, 
he has been taking a leaf or two out of our Cottage 
Gardener, for I saw that these Staxintonius were 
planted on the tar-barrel-system, the only mode by 
which we can get climbers established against full 
grown trees, or in front of plantations. 
To make the best of a tree, or ruin, covered with ivy, 
or any evergreen climber, such as the one now under 
review, there ought to be a Clematis montana and a Vir¬ 
ginian creeper (Ampelopsis AeJrraamj planted, to run 
up over the Ivy, but not to allow them to cover it all 
over. The Clematis, after reaching the top, would hang 
down in long wreaths of snow-white blossom to the 
ground in the month of May, and in the autumn the 
purplish-scarlet tinge from the fading leaves of the 
“ creej)er” would be no less beautiful, nor less in contrast 
to the deep gi-een below it. 
But to return to the meeting of the Society. In the 
absence of winter Lettuce, except two samples of every¬ 
day-looks, we had a Lettuce bell-glass from Paris, one of 
the very best things of the kind I ever saw; it was about 
eighteen inches across the opening, and as much in 
height, and the exact shape of a bell, with the glass 
quite thick, and bright enough for a cottage window, 
.these bell-glasses are in use by the thousands all round 
Paris, where they cost only 7|^d. a piece, and there 
is no reason why we should not have them here just as 
cheap and good, only that they are not dear enough to 
render them fashionable. 
There was another contrivance, by Mr. Cuthill, for 
heating small greenhouses and other rooms by means of 
gas. Ihisinay be described as like a system of hot-water 
pipes, two inches in diameter, running, not from a boiler, 
as in the hot-water-plan, but from an iron night-cap, for 
that is exactly the shape of the thing. A hundred jets 
of gas, or more, or less of them, might be arranged in 
circles, one within the other, so as to get a great blaze 
in a very small compass; then, by placing the iron night¬ 
cap over the burners, the heat is carried away along the 
pipes through a socket-joint at the top of the cap, where 
the top-knot ought to be. There is a door at the bottom 
of this iron cap by which air is admitted, or kept out, at 
the will of the attendant. It was told us, that all tlie 
contrivances that have been hitherto tried for heating 
greenhouses with gas failed from the impossibility of 
securing the joints, so as to be gas-proof, but Mr. 
Cuthill, the inventor of this plan, says a composition of 
white and red lead will effectually jirevent the escape of 
gas at the joints of this aparatus. I never had any ex¬ 
perience in this way of heating, but I can see quite 
clearly, that if there is no other objection to heating by 
gas thaii that of its escaping by the joints, and so con¬ 
taminating or poisoning the air for plants, that can be 
as effectually prevented as leakage by hot-water, and 
when a system of iron-pipes for heating a building is on i 
the hermetically sealed principle like this, the heat 
given off, or radiating from the iron surface, is equally I 
safe for plants, whether the heat be circulated by water, | 
oil, gas, or any other medium.* D. Beaton. ! 
PRESERVATIVE WALLS. 
{Conlinued from page 085.) | 
LIST OF SUITABLE PLANTS. i 
Ceanotiius. —A large genus of very handsome, gene- ' 
rally blue-flowering, shrubs. Though the flowers are I 
individually small, yet they are produced in such pro¬ 
fusion that they are very showy in a mass. Mr. Hartweg 
found several species in California, and these have 
proved quite hardy against walls. There are some fine 
specimens of these growing in the Chiswick Gardens, 
on the walls there, and some even in the open borders. 
I saw, also, some fine specimens growing against an 
east wall in the gardens belonging to A. F. Slade, Esq., 
at Kinmell House, near North Cray, in Kent. There 
they had reached the top of the wall, and had never had 
any protection excepting what the wall afforded. This 
proves that they are very suitable for preservative walls, 
whether they are protected or not. I shall select a few 
of the best, including some that are rather tender, and 
will require protection in the northern parts of the 
empire. 
C. AZUREUs. —This is the old well-known species, a 
native of Mexico, requiring a slight protection. 
C. cuNEATUs, or wedge-shaped, referring to the leaves. 
—Blue-flowered; native of California. 
C. iNTEGERRi.MA (Intire-leaved).—A handsome species, 
with bright foliage, and blue flowers, from California. 
C. Nepaulensis. —This has yellow flowers, and re¬ 
quires protection. 
C. PAPiLLosus (Pimpled).—The leaves are covered 
with warty pimples. The heads of flowers have long 
foot-stalks, which I'enders them more conspicuous. I 
consider this the finest species of the whole genus. It 
is a native of California, with pale blue flowers. 
C. RiGiDus (Stiff). — Though of a rigid habit, this 
species sends forth long straight shoots, which may be 
easily trained against the wall. The flowers are nearly 
sessile—that is, without stalks—and are produced thickly 
all over the young branches. It is a native of Cali¬ 
fornia, and very handsome when in bloom. 
C. sANGUiNEA (Crimson-stalked).—This is from the 
banks of the Missouri, and has white flowers. Its chief 
beauty consists in its beautifully-coloured young shoots. 
CoRONiLLA GLAucA (Milky-green) —This old inhabitant 
of our greenhouses is very suitable to plant against a 
wall of this description. When planted out it grows 
freely, and flowers abundantly through the winter. 
There is a variety with variegated leaves, which is 
curious, and well worthy of cultivation even in pots. 
Glass covering, without heat, will be sufficient protection. 
Correa alba and speciosa are hardy enough to grow 
against a preservative wall, if covered with glass, even 
without heat. 
Cytisusfilipes (Thread-stemmed) —An elegant plant, 
with numerous white flowers. Requires protection from 
frost. 
Daphne indica rubra and alba are both evergreen 
shrubs, sufficiently hardy for the preservatory. The 
flowers have a strong agreeable perfume, scenting the 
air of a whole house when in blossom. They flower in 
winter, which renders them particularly desirable. Re¬ 
quires the protection of glass and a heated wall. Soil, 
peat and loam in equal parts. 
Diplacus puniceus (Scarlet).—A handsome free-flow¬ 
ering shrub, requiring a slight protection. 
* tVe have received a plan from some gentlemen at Tiverton, iirecisely 
similar to the above. It has been some time in operation, and answers 
perfectly. We shall publish a drawing of it next week.—E d. C. G, 
