298 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, Febbvaby 9, 1858. 
potted every season, or twice, as the case may be, or may be 
planted out. 
I shall now proceed to give a brief description of the plant, 
its flower, fruit, habit, and the general treatment it requires. 
It is the case with this, as with many other new plants— 
many people obtain them, and before they give themselves 
sufficient time to prove the qualities of the plant, they con¬ 
demn it. Or, perhaps, one sees a plant in a friend’s possession 
that is not doing what it really ought in the way of pros¬ 
perity; and it thereby obtains an ill name, and is said to be 
not worth growing. But those who see the Eugenia Ugni in 
a flourishing condition cannot condemn it. The plant requires 
the thumb and forefinger to be used pretty freely, whilst in a 
very young state, in nipping the points ol the young shoots 
out when they reach the length of three inches, lliis will 
bring them into nice bushy plants, which habit they will 
retain afterwards with a very little stopping. If this be not 
attended to, the plant will grow loose and straggling, and in 
a few years become quite ugly. But with attention to the 
foregoing directions, the plant may be made sufficiently sightly 
to occupy a place in any conservatory; and with its beautiful 
dark green foliage would, indeed, form a very ornamental 
plant for such a situation, for it may be grown into any shape 
you please. 
The foliage is not the only beauty the plant possesses; for 
the flowers are amongst the prettiest of the inhabitants of the 
greenhouse or conservatory. They arc small, it is true, but 
not the less beautiful. They measure nearly half an inch in 
diameter ; are of a creamy white colour, and of a thick waxy 
substance. They are produced in sucli abundance (if the 
plants have received judicious management), as to make quite 
a pleasing object; and were there no other quality in the 
plant, this one -would be sufficient to repay any one for the 
trouble it would require. But it is not the only one: lor the 
fruit has been proved to be quite wholesome; and is oi such 
a beautifully rich flavour, that it deserves to have a place, 
amongst the dessert on every gentleman’s table, which it will 
have, I feel confident, in course of time. It is about the size 
of a large Black Currant. Its colour is rather uncertain, 
varying according to the treatment it receives ; sometimes 
being nearly wdiite; at other times of a light red ; and some¬ 
times a very dark red, nearly a crimson. But the colour 
does not aflect the flavour of the fruit that I can perceive, 
which is that of a very rich Pine or Strawberry—more like 
the latter: and it is for the fruit that the plant will be 
generally grown. It may, at first, appear to some that it 
would never answer to grow a plant to the size it is likely to 
attain, for a few fruits so small as these are; but when it is a 
fact that a small plant nine inches high will produce from two 
to three dozen fruit, a near estimate may be formed of what a 
plant three or four feet high ought to produce. 
The plant that was shown at the great fruit exhibition at 
W illi s’a Rooms in the autumn of last year, was a very bad 
example as to the productiveness of the plant. I had at the 
time small plants in 48-sized pots that had more fruit on them 
than that had. I had an opportunity of seeing the fruit (on 
that which obtained the first prize at that exhibition) growing 
on the plants ; and it was entirely gathered from plants in 
48-pots, varying from nine to twenty-four inches in height, 
which had been grown in a cold pit for the last three winters, 
with no covering whatever but the lights. Other plants had 
been grown and fruited in one of the greenhouses, which pro¬ 
duced fruit nearly double the size of that winch was exhibited : 
but the whole of the fruit -was gathered from them before the 
exhibition took place; otherwise a much finer dish might 
have been produced. This will give an idea whether it is 
likely to be prolific enough for general cultivation, which I 
consider it is; and I think it would make a most delicious 
preserve. 
A few remarks as to its culture, and I think I have done. 
Those who obtain the plants at this time of the year (as I 
said before), will have them in pots sufficiently large to flower 
them, winch will take place in the spring. As soon as the 
flowers are gone, and the fruit is beginning to swell, a shift 
(if it is intended to keep them in pots), will be required; 
which should be into a pot a size larger, in a compost of loam 
one part, peat one part, and a little leaf mould, and thoroughly 
decayed dung, with a little sand. Tins shift will be sufficient 
for them until the following spring ; or even two seasons may 
elapse before another shift is required: but, of course, if 
shifted every spring, a much larger supply of wood will be 
obtained. Soon alter the plant has received the shift, it 
should be examined ; and where a long shoot can be spared 
without taking away the fruit, it should be shortened, so as to 
give the plant a uniform shape; and by cutting any piece 
that may require it at this time, it will allow sufficient time 
for the plant to make and ripen its young wood for flowering 
and fruiting the following season, which will be produced at 
the base of the leaf on the wood of the preceding year’s growth. 
The only care it will require after this will be to keep it moist 
through the summer, but not to give too much water during 
the winter months. 
If it is intended to be planted out, a south wall would be 
the best place for it in some warm sheltered place. A hole 
should be dug ; and a little of the above-mentioned compost 
supplied to plant it in. The planting should be done firmly. 
Al l that will be required in such a situation will be to attend 
to the pruning, as before, and watering in the summer. A 
slight protection from late spring frosts would be acceptable; 
but when gro\vn in a conservatory, greenhouse, pit, or in a 
window, as much air as possible should be given.— W. Reeve. 
HARPY BORDER-PLANTS FOR JANUARY. 
I beg to hand you a list of the best hardy plants that have 
bloomed here during the past month; and shall be glad to 
continue it throughout the season, if you consider it of the 
least interest to any of your readers. [Certainly.] 
Owing to the unusual mildness of the weather, there are, of 
course, many others flowering prematurely. But I only 
mention such as bloom in their natural beauty about this 
time: and those who are collecting winter blooming plants 
w r ill find them all indispensable. 
Amongst handsome flowering shrubs, I may mention, that 
on a south wall during the month we have had Jasminum 
nudiflorum, Pgr us j ap o n ica , red and white, and Chimonanthus 
fragrans , in great perfection; and in the American ground, 
the rich scarlet trusses of lihododendron Nobleanum have 
been conspicuous. This is the best; of all the Rhododendrons 
for early forcing; and one of the gayest plants possible for 
the conservatory, during December and January. 
Name. 
Tritonia media . 
Sisyrinchium grandiflorum. 
-flore albo. 
Helleborus niger . 
- var. angustifolius... 
-atro-rubens . 
■-flos-albus . 
-olympicus . 
--fiore albo 
- orientalis .. 
--purpurescens .. 
Eranthes hyemalis. 
Galanthus nivalis . 
—James Rae, ’Edinburgh . 
Date of 
Height. 
Colour. 
flowering. 
Feet. 
scarlet . 
... 1 . 
. 3 
crimson . 
.... 1 . 
. ? 
white . 
.... 24 . 
. # 
white. 
.... 1 . 
. \ 
white . 
.... 1 . 
. X 
deep crimson 
... 6 . 
. 1" 
white . 
... 10 . 
. 1 
purple . 
.... 1 . 
. n 
white . 
.... 4 . 
. H 
cream . 
.... 11 . 
. l 
plum. 
.... 18 . 
3 
yellow . 
.... 20 . 
.1 
white .. 
.... 25 . 
. 1 
GARDEN ROCKERY'. 
In the spring of last year we constructed a rockery winch 
has proved a great source of amusement during the summer. 
Your correspondents, “W. E.,” and “S. lb,” allude to 
the desirability of cultivating usually - overlooked British 
plants. Knowing these flowers were, many of them, very 
beautiful and interesting, wo introduced a variety among the 
crevices of the clinker-work, where they throve famously, 
manifesting their superiority over many foreign importations. 
The rockwork is oval on plan, having an opening in the 
front; and is formed with irregular bays (carried up into 
pinnacles above), in which are placed Perns, standard Roses, 
and Fuchsias. On the inside is a pool containing gold and 
silver fish, with iron basin rising from the centre of the water, 
throwing an upright jet eleven feet high. At the square base 
of the tazza are eight minor fountains supplied from the 
basin itself, and playing into the pool. From the sides of 
the rockwork five larger jets rise to the vase. The sides and 
back are bordered with grass ; the garden walks passing off 
right and left from the front. 
i 
I 
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