98 
THE FLORIST AND TOMOLOGIST 
[ July, 
oood condition, have been sold at Stevens’s 
Rooms. Mr. Lehmann states that it grows at 
an elevation of from 3,500ft. to 4,200 ft., that 
it is of easy cultivation, and that a temperature 
of from 60° to 70° will suit it best. He adds, 
moreover, that the flowers (spathes) last in 
beauty for four months, and being most vivid 
in colour, far surpass in beauty those of the 
well-known Anthurium Scherzerianum. We 
have no doubt that Mr. W. G. Smith’s figure 
of the plant, as rendered in the accompanying 
plate by M. de Pannemaeker, will be admitted 
as evidence that we have not said too much in 
its favour.—T. Moore. 
COCOA-NUT FIBRE REFUSE. 
T was the late Mr. Donald Beeton, who 
lived in the neighbourhood of a manu¬ 
factory at Surbiton, who first drew atten¬ 
tion to the usefulness in the garden of the 
refuse obtained in the preparation of the fibre 
contained in the husk of the cocoa-nut for the 
manufacture of matting, brushes, &c. No use 
had then been found for this refuse material, 
and large heaps of it were accumulating so as 
to prove incumbrances to the manufacturer. 
Aware of this, Mr. Beeton conceived the idea 
of utilising it in the garden, and it was found 
so useful that, mainly through his recommenda¬ 
tion, the refuse-heaps diminished in bulk, and 
at length disappeared. From that time it has 
in a quiet way come into very general use, 
especially in town gardens within reach of the 
fibre works, where the refuse, cheap enough in 
itself, can be obtained without excessive cost of 
carriage. 
The cocoa-nut fibre refuse really consists of 
short scraps of fibre, and of the tissue which 
grows with it in the husk of the cocoa-nut. It 
is, therefore, vegetable matter, light in texture, 
and in its nature not very far removed from 
leaf-mould ; and as there is nothing in it dele¬ 
terious to growing plants, it can be employed 
with advantage as a substitute for that very 
useful adjunct to the compost-heap. 
Plants root into this material so freely, that 
it is a very useful aid to the propagation of 
soft-wooded, free-growing plants generally. 
When mixed with a sufficient quantity of grit, 
so that it is not liable to become soppy with 
moisture, it may bo safely used either in 
the compost prepared for cutting pots, or in 
that used for surfacing hot-beds, where pro¬ 
pagation is carried out on a large scale. It 
is not, however, adapted for the propagation 
of hard-wooded plants, which take a longer 
period to strike root; but it is admirably suited 
for mixing with light earth to form a com¬ 
post for bedding out divided plants of choice 
herbaceous perennials, or for pricking out 
young seedlings in order to nurse them on into 
size and strength. The roots are generally 
formed so abundantly, and seem to hold on to 
the fibre so tenaciously, that young plants 
reared in this may be transplanted with much 
less risk of failure than when growing in ordinary 
soil, which parts more freely from their roots. 
The refuse may also be used as an ingredient in 
the composts used for all soft-wooded plants. In 
this case it takes the place of leaf-mould, and acts 
as a lightener of the compost, as a due retainer 
of moisture, and gradually as a pabulum for 
the growing plants. From this point of view, 
it may not, indeed, be superior to leaf-mould, 
but when it has commenced to decay it should 
be equally good, and those who cannot obtain 
leaf-soil in a tolerably pure state, may very 
well employ in its stead the refuse of the husk 
of the cocoa-nut, which can always be had 
free from any foreign intermixture. 
When obtained fresh, the refuse is an ex¬ 
cellent material in which to plunge pot-plants, 
whether in unheated or heated frames, as a pro¬ 
tection to their roots against drought or frost. 
When, however, it is used as a plunging-bed, in 
hot frames, its decay is more rapid from its 
being more exposed to moisture, than when in 
cold frames, where it will last for a consider¬ 
able period ; but even under the circumstances 
indicated, being cheap, it can be readily 
replaced. It is not so durable for the purpose 
as tanner’s bark, nor does it to any consider¬ 
able extent supply heat by fermentation as 
that doesj but where the heat is supplied by a 
tank or hot-water pipes, the refuse placed over 
the source of heat forms a good plunging-bed. 
We have used this cocoa-nut refuse to good 
advantage as a mulching material, applied to 
the surface of flower-beds which it may be 
desired to shelter from excessive heat in dry 
seasons ; and it may be employed in a similar 
way with much advantage around the base of 
the stems or over the roots of half-tender 
plants as a protection from frost in winter, 
