February 13. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
Floral Apostles, that in dewy splendour 
Weep without woe, and blush without a crime: 
Oh may I deeply learn and ne’er surrender 
Your love sublime. 
Were I, O God, in churchless lands remaining 
Far from all voice of teachers and divines, 
My soul would find in flowers of thy ordaining, 
Priests, sermons, shrines. 
—S. P., Rushmere. 
CROP FROM POTATOES LATE-PLANTED. 
My Potatoes having been much frost bitten in the end 
of April last, and expecting but a poor return from them in 
consequence, I was induced, as an experiment, to try what 
would be the result of late planting, which I saw, from an 
article in one of your numbers of last year, had been suc¬ 
cessful, though so late as in the month of July ; or it was, at 
least, stated, I forget which, that a crop of Potatoes might 
be expected from July's planting. Accordingly, I had a 
vacant patch of ground in my garden, situated in the county 
of Somerset, prepared, lightly manured, and planted on the 
22nd of last June with what are called Scotch Reds, the 
only Potato I could procure so late in the season fit for 
seed. They came up well, but were attacked in the end of 
July by the same blight as had attacked early Potatoes 
everywhere else, and, has prevailed everywhere for years 
past. On the 7th of August, a fresh attack of blight again 
appeared, but still very slight, which was also the case in 
the first instance; so slight, indeed, that I cherished the 
hope that the tuber would not be affected. On the first of 
October, and after the Potatoes had been in bloom for some 
time, blight again appeared, so that now there was every 
expectation that the loss would be as extensive as among 
the other crops of Potatoes. On the 4th November the 
crop was dug up, after waiting for some time for the decay¬ 
ing of the haulm, but which was not quite complete at even 
this late period; and the produce was found as good as the 
early-planted Potatoes, and in quantity also, with not more 
disease in the tubers than in the other crops which, in this 
neighbourhood, was comparatively trifling this year.— Senex. 
JASMINUM NUDIFLORUM. 
(The Naked Flowering Jasmine.) 
This plant appears to have been introduced to this 
country from China, by Mr. Fortune, to the Horticultural 
Society of London, in the year 1844, and, as a Christmas- 
flowering plant for either pot-culture, or upon the open wall, 
it rivals all the plants with which I am acquainted. It is a 
hardy perennial, that can easily be every-bodies plant. Its 
'habit of growth is much the same as that of the common 
White Sweet-scented Jasmine (Jasminum officinale ), and 
therefore suitable for training upon walls. Of course, for 
pot-culture, the object, in most cases, is to have a dwarf, 
compact, bushy plant, which is readily obtained by cutting 
back, removing, or topping any strong or runaway shoots 
during the summer, and encouraging the growth of as much 
of the small spray shoots as possible. These spray shoots 
produce two blossoms from every joint, or the axils of the 
leaves, forming quite a wreath, which all fall ofl" some time 
before the blooming season. Not a bit of this small spray 
should bo cut in until the plants have done flowering, when 
it may he shortened-in in common with other shoots. 
This very showy plant forms a Christmas gem, from its 
gaudy, golden-yellow-coloured blossoms, which are nearly 
an inch-and-a-half across, and produced in profusion at a 
season when flowers are so scarce from natural sources. 
December and January are the natural season of its 
flowering. 
It is a hardy plant, and readily increased, either from 
young tips of the shoots of spring or summer growth, in the 
common dung hotbed, or by cutting the young, long shoots 
into certain lengths, and planting them in some cool border, 
in November, as one would a common Gooseberry, or a 
Currant, so that the cottager can make an increase of this 
charming plant, without either greenhouse or hotbed, and 
381 
may delight himself with a plant of it trained up outside of 
his castle window. 
I have this very ornamental plant in both the before- 
mentioned forms, and in both cases it is so strikingly 
beautiful, that I feel too much cannot be said in its 
praise.—T. W. 
COMPONENTS OF HERACLEUM GIGANTEUM. 
“ Are you aware, or can you, or any of your correspondents, 
inform me, if there is any thing peculiar in tho chemical 
composition of this plant, or if any use can be made of it 
when dying down in the autumn ? 
“ Observing that the stalks of my plants were much 
frequented by wasps and flies, and particularly where there 
were fractures of the branches or bark, I conjectured that 
the stalks might contain sugar, so I cut up one of the 
largest of them in small pieces, and boiled it, afterwards 
straining off and evaporating the water. I found the dry 
residuum to be so very deliquescent, that in a few minutes 
after exposure to the air, it was again a liquid, and on 
tasting it I found it to be some kind of salt, or, at all events, 
of a very saline nature. 
“ I have now some of the ashes of the plants by me, which 
I intend to treat with alcohol, &c„ hut should like first to 
have your opinion on it.—T. M. W.” 
[We are not aware of any analysis of the Heracleum. It 
is not improbable that its sap may contain sugar, for it is 
abundant in one of its nearest relatives in the same Natural 
Order—the Parsnip. We fear that you will not obtain any 
satisfactory results from treating the ashes of the Heracleum 
with alcohol. Alcohol is chiefly employed to dissolve the 
resinous constituents of a plant, and when you reduce it to 
ashes by burning, the resin is destroyed. 
The following is Dr. Richardson’s analysis of the ashes of 
the Parsnip:— 
Potash. 36,12 
Soda. 3,11 
Lime. 11,43 
Magnesia. 0,94 
Phosphate of Iron. 3,71 
Chloride of Sodium (Common 
Salt). 5,54 
Phosphoric Acid. 18,66 
Sulphuric Acid. 6,50 
Silica. 4,10 
Oxide of Manganese.89 
100,00 
The amount of Totasli and Common Salt are, probably, 
quite as great in the Heracleum, and would fully account 
for the saline flavour, and for the absorption of moisture 
from the air.] 
RAISING GERANIUM UNIQUE FROM 
PORTIONS OF THE ROOT. 
Mr. Beaton’s remarks upon Root-propagation reminds 
me of a fact which I noticed this autumn, and which I 
think might be useful to some of your readers, as it relates 
to a plant which is somewhat difficult to strike by cuttings of 
the shoots. In taking up some plants to preserve through 
the winter, I came upon a Geranium ( Rollisson's Unique), 
from the roots of which were growing several young shoots. 
They proceeded from the upper parts of the roots, at about 
two inches from the stem, and when detached from the 
parent made very nice little plants ; and it strikes me that 
propagation by root-cuttings will he an effectual means of 
increasing this very desirable bedding-plant. 
In a recent number of The Cottage Gardener, Mr. 
Beaton made some remarks upon Tree-planting, and dwelt 
upon tho necessity of laying the roots out straight, and the 
folly of rocking the tree to-and-fro, as practised by our fore¬ 
fathers. Now, without contradicting Mr. Beaton (whose 
opiuion, hacked by his long experience, is undoubtedly 
correct), I cannot help mentioning a fact which proves that 
