142 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ September, 
exists, there you will always see, or should see, 
a renewal of more or fewer bushes every year, 
old and worn-out beds being burnt up, and the 
soil trenched and cropped with vegetables. 
I think it was Mr. Forsyth who, some years 
ago, advocated making hedges with Gooseberry- 
bushes, and no doubt in many places this may 
be put into practice very advantageously. 
Possibly, however, seedling plants would be 
the best for this object, as they may be raised 
easily ; for they come up in thousands under 
the bushes, after a prolific year, from the 
fruit that has been half-eaten and spoiled by 
birds. So with Black Currants. 
Certain it is that too much attention cannot 
be given to those homely come-at-able fruits in 
this northern climate, where tree-fruits, with 
few exceptions, give such poor returns, and in 
face of our great American imports—Apples 
more especially. The only Apple that has 
fruited this year round about here is Lord 
Suffield, and old Keswick Codlin, apparently 
one of its parents. I think Warrington and 
Sulphur Gooseberries, Eaby Castle Eed Cur¬ 
rants, and Lee’s Prolific Black Currant, also the 
Northumberland Fillbasket Baspberry, might 
be planted in much greater quantities than 
they are to be seen at present.—K., Tweedsicle. 
ACHIMENES LONGIFLORA. 
Achimenes longijlora was, according 
Paxton, introduced to this country 
1841 from Guatemala, and is one of 
those beautiful plants that are not affected by 
the length of time they have been in our gardens, 
for it is as much prized now by cultivators as 
when it was first introduced. Its fine robust 
form and beautiful large violet-blue flowers, 
which are borne in succession over a long 
period of time, render it one of the most useful 
plants we have for the decoration of the stove 
or the warm greenhouse during the summer 
months. 
It is easy of cultivation, and is well adapted 
for growing in pots or baskets. It should be 
potted in a mixture of good turfy loam and 
peat, with a sprinkling of silver-sand and 
manure. The pots or pans should bo well 
drained, so as to admit of a copious supply of 
water being given, and to allow it to pass off 
readily. When the plants go to rest, the scaly 
tubers should not be allowed to get quite dry, 
as under such treatment many of the smaller 
ones perish during the winter. —G. Eyles. 
THE SUNDEW. 
<£j=h^i)HIS charming little rosy pet is about 
this time at its best, throwing up its 
heads of flower on footstalks about the 
length and width of a stocking-needle; it 
makes, indeed, a modest display of some three 
to five flower-buds—nothing very attractive, as 
one would naturally have expected from the 
quaint and highly-coloured leaf. The Droserci 
is able of its own strength to flower and seed, 
and thereby to propagate its species, leaving 
no mystery whatever about its habits. To the 
unprejudiced observer, like the “ primrose by 
the river’s brim,” a Droserci it is to him, and 
could be nothing more, or if it were any¬ 
thing more, surely it might be manifested 
among the many specimens now before me. 
Nature seems to be satisfied with the normal 
amount of root, stem, leaf, flower, and fruit, 
and what more should we look for—and what, 
indeed, should we find if we persevered in the 
search ? Here we come face to face with a 
string of unanswered questions; and, first, is 
this miserably small plant guilty of the car¬ 
nivorous deeds laid to its charge ? I have no 
intention of reviving a controversy which 
seemed to settle the matter with arguments 
piled one upon another; but it hath been truly 
said by Hudibras that 
“ He who complies against his will, 
Is of the same opinion still 
and I see nothing in the contour of the living 
plant to justify its claim to be considered car¬ 
nivorous. I have shown that the plant can 
