■!0 
THE FLORIST AND rOMOLOOIST. 
[ Mahcii, 
thing in the same wa}', but decidedly stronger 
in the tube, which was of good form and colour. 
Green-edged John Cunningham, named in 
memoriain of this sterling Scotch florist, was a 
faint grey, good circular tube and fine paste, but 
with an undue prejionderance of body-colour ; 
the pip was, however, an almost exhausted one. 
It is a variety well worthy a good trial. 
Of the white-edged flowers. Regularity was 
very promising, and was named probably 
because of its distinct and regular markings. 
The youngest pip had a rich golden tube ; 
paste pure, dense, and smooth ; body-colour 
black, laid on with remarkable regularity, and 
with a broad white edge. Cleopatra was repre¬ 
sented by a fine and well-proportioned pip, 
good golden tube ; paste smooth and dense ; 
black body-colour, breaking into the edge; 
good form, and promising. I may add that 
Regularity was raised from Ashworth’s Eegular 
crossed with Smiling Beauty, and Mr. Bead 
thinks it will make one of his best flowers. 
Mr. Bead has a seedling Self of a beautiful 
velvety-crimson colour, which I have not seen, 
but which he thinks will come out fine in 
course of time. It is a seedling from Buby, 
crossed with Lord of Lome, and has been 
named Fah-I of Beaconrfield. —B. Dean. 
INDOOK BERRY-BEARING 
PLANTS. 
SOLANtJMS AND CaPSIOUMS. 
EXT come the Solanums, which are so ser¬ 
viceable and extensively grown for their 
useful winter decorative qualities. For 
every purpose they do best planted out during the 
summer months, and will gi’ow in any ordinary 
garden soil, wdiich may be dressed with fresh 
loam, choosing a fully exposed situation. There 
are several forms of the Solanum, of which S. 
Capsicastrnm and S. Pseudo-Capsicum are the 
types, between which there are hybrids, all 
possessing more or less merit, so that each 
grower may make hL own selection. Stan¬ 
dards are best grafted iqion the stronger 
varieties, or they may be trained to form stems, 
by encouraging a leading shoot until the desired 
height is attained. After the berries are ex¬ 
hausted, the plants should be cut in freelj^ and 
started into growth, wdien such plants as are 
in large pots should be shaken out, trimming 
back the roots, and repotting them in smaller 
ones, active growth being afterwards encour¬ 
aged. When treated thus, the plants are more 
manageable, and lift with more certainty than 
they do if planted in the old soil. 
Seed should be sown early in the season 
and the plants encouraged by rich compost, 
keeping them near the glass in a close pit, to 
secure sturdy strong growth by planting-out 
time, for wuthout this is insured^ they seldom 
produce that profusion of berries in small pots 
which is so desirable for this class of plants. 
Although these Solanums are not affected 
by a degree or two of frost, they are better- 
lifted by October, and should then be placed 
in a shaded situation until they establish them¬ 
selves. They should be brought forward in 
cold pits or the greenhouse, giving a little 
manure-water occasional!}’', with an abundance 
of air. They dislike much heat at this stage. 
A yellow-berried variety of the S. Capsicastriim 
is a great desideratum, for although w-e have 
yellow Capsicums of superior merit, they alto¬ 
gether lack that freshness of foliage and 
general aspect presented by the Solanums. 
The Prince of Wales is the best yellow'-coloured 
Capsicum we have, and is well worth growing 
as a decorative plant. This, unlike the 
Solanum, must be grown in pots throughout 
the season, and be kept in heat. It is raised 
from seeds annually, and rec^uires potting in 
good rich soil in 6 or 7-inch pots, which are 
amply sufficient, as medium-sized well-berried 
plants are the most useful. 
The above are amongst the most valuable 
berried plants we can grow for winter decora¬ 
tion, and are doubly valuable on account of the 
time they last in condition.— George West- 
land, Witley Court. 
now TO AVOID THE POTATO 
DISEASE. 
(i^j^EBE is a method of Potato-culture made 
j fW eas}’, and of saving the crop from disease. 
It is a well known fact that light sandy 
land is the best for growing Potatos ; and the 
mode is thus:—Well manure the land in 
autumn, and plough it deeply. I have no 
faith whatever in any kind of chemical manure, 
but use the real thing, good farm-yard dung. 
Let the ground lie up rough through the winter, 
and about March 1st, if dry, plough it again 
crossways, and then with a Kentish potato-dibber 
