48 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ March, 
— She Soja Bean (Soja hispida ), as we 
gather from tlie Revue Horticole, is attracting 
considerable attention in France ; it indeed ap¬ 
pears to exceed all other kinds of pulse in nutritive 
properties. M. Blavet, President of the Horticul¬ 
tural Society of Etampes, has occupied himself in a 
special manner with its culture, and from the result 
of his labours M. Carriere concludes—1. That under 
the name of Soja hispida there exist different kinds, 
varying as to constitution, productiveness, hardiness, 
and earliness. 2. That the variety called Soja 
d’Etampes, which is hardier than the haricots, is also 
one of the richest in nutritive matters, and also 
very palatable, and is, therefore, to be preferred to 
all others. According to M. Blavet, the proper way 
of cooking the Soja is to put the beans into boiling 
water for five minutes, then to take them out and 
finish them in other water. 
— ©he neat little MonociijEtum ensiferum 
has few rivals as a winter-flowering greenhouse 
plant. It thrives in a soil composed of peat, 
leaf-mould, and loam in equal parts, and may be 
grown and flowered in a six-inch pot. Cuttings of 
the young shoots strike freely in the spring, in a 
propagating-house or frame. About the end of 
March the old plants will commence to make new 
growth, and should then have a moderate shift into 
larger pots, and be placed in the warmest part of 
the house, where they should remain until the end 
of June, after which they do better in a pit or frame. 
By the autumn they should be returned to the 
warmest part of the house, where the temperature 
does not fall below 45°, and they will begin to flower 
in December, and continue for a considerable period 
in bloom. 
— Ft seems a pity that a taste for the 
wholesome Parsnip, so easy to cultivate and 
preserve during the winter, and withal so 
toothsome, is not more generally acquired. Its 
nutritive power stands higher than that of Beetroot, 
Carrots, or Turnips, as the following analysis by MM. 
Corenwinder and Contamine, in the Annales Agrono- 
miques, shows :— 
Water ... . 
Nitrogenous matter 
Sugar . 
Glucose . 
Starch .. 
Cellulose. 
Pectine, &c. 
Mineral matters .. 
79-340 
2-363 
8-257 
1-563 
1- 075 
2- 050 
4-327 
1-027—100-000 
The per-centage of nitrogen in Parsnips is consider¬ 
ably higher than in Carrots, Turnips, or Beet, thus :— 
Parsnip .. .. 
Sugar-Beet . 
Bed Dutch Carrot .. 
Swede Turnip. 
Long Turnip. 
Yellow Beet . 
Bed Beet. .. 
White round Turnip 
Nitrogen. 
0'378 per cent. 
0-249 „ 
0-226 
0-225 
0-211 
>) 
}> 
0-174 
0-167 
0-161 
>> 
— ©he aquatic Eichornia or Pontederia 
azurea is a most charming plant, as it has 
been seen flowering during the whole of the 
O D 
past autumn in the Boyal Botanic Gardens, Begcnt’s 
Park. It flowers very freely, the delicate purple 
flower-spikes rising among the large, shining- 
leaves, and the shoots running freely over the 
surface of the water. With the exception of the 
water-lilies, says the Garden, we know of no more 
valuable plant; and from its size, it could probably 
be grown easily in a tank in a warm house. The 
flowers have a bright little yellow eye, which gives 
them a pretty aspect when closely examined; but 
the distant effect is even more remarkable. 
— Ft is stated in the Gardener s Magazine 
that Chrysanthemum La Belle is a pure 
double-white form of that king of tasselled 
flowers, James Salter. It has been fixed as a sport 
by Mr. George Neal, gardener to P. Southby, Esq., 
Bampton, Oxon., and was exhibited at the late 
Oxford Chrysanthemum Show, and secured a first- 
class certificate. It will prove a noble acquisition 
to the group to which it belongs. 
— Ft is quite practicable to grow Water- 
Cresses without Water. Mr. Barron does 
this at Chiswick, by sowing seed some time 
during the summer under a north wall. These 
cresses are as plentiful, crisp, and sweet as if grown 
in water, and they are perhaps free from some of 
the impurities incidental to water. The fact serves 
to show how a spare piece of a garden can be utilised 
and made to yield a good return during the winter 
months. When severe weather comes a few odd 
lights could be well turned to account by covering 
them over the beds to preserve the cresses from 
damage. It is said that a bed raised from seed sown 
on well-prepared ground on a suitable spot will yield 
water cresses for several years, as the plants sow 
themselves, but a yearly top-dressing would pro¬ 
bably be found necessary. 
— ©£nder the name of Pteris serrulata 
pellucida, a recent addition to the group of 
tasselled varieties of this familiar species, has 
been noticed in the Garden. It is described as 
being remarkable for its much-branched crests and 
pellucid texture, which give it the appearance of 
some of the green sea-weeds. The divisions of the 
crest are linear, and almost wingless, as if composed 
of a duplication of the mid-vein only. In this fea¬ 
ture it is peculiar, as in most of the other varieties 
the divisions of the crests are broadly wing-margined, 
or connected by a green membraue. Its graceful 
habit and delicacy of texture render it both striking 
and ornamental. 
- ©HE POINSETTIA TULCHERRIMA PLENIS- 
sima lias scarcely yet taken its rightful 
position amongst decorative plants. Thus 
“ C. B. S.” writes in the Gardeners’ Chronicle from 
Jersey :—“ I saw at Bouge Bouillon House, the 
residence of Charles Fodfray, Esq., corymbs of both 
the double and single varieties, which measured 
nearly 15 inches in diameter, and of the most bril¬ 
liant colour. I thought them so beautiful, especially 
the double variety (the centre of which was fairly 
filled up with its crimson leaflets, the central ones 
being erect, and forming a splendid head of bloom), 
that they were worthy of being placed on record.” 
— SUnder the title of the Antiquary 
(Eliot Stock), a new monthly periodical has 
been started, “ devoted to the study of the 
past.” The magazine may be commended as con¬ 
taining articles interesting to others than professed 
antiquaries. The paper and type are both exceed¬ 
ingly good, and not only so, but characteristic. 
