168 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
November 12, lb6 7 . 
FOODS FROM THE VEGETABLE 
WORLD. 
On Tuesday evening, October 25tb, Mr. E. J. Baillie, 
F.L.S., Chester, gave a lecture on “Foods from the 
Vegetable World,” at a meeting of the members of the 
Manchester Scientific Students’ Association. Mr. Leo 
H. Grindon, president of the Manchester Field 
Naturalists’ Society, took the chair, and in opening 
the proceedings expressed his great sympathy with 
those who seek to promote fruit culture in this country. 
The more fruit there is consumed the lower the drink 
bill would be, that was perfectly certain. If everyone 
in this country consumed a pound of fruit every day, 
people would be more healthy than they are now, but 
it was not possible to supply so great a quantity under 
the present methods of cultivation. It, therefore, 
behoved all who wish well to the general welfare of our 
community to promote the cultivation and cheapening 
of the best kind of fruits. It was interesting to note 
that the appellation vegetarian was not derived from 
the word vegetable, as many people would naturally 
suppose, but from the Latin word vegetus, which 
meant comely, nimble, sprightly, well-conditioned, 
and everything that it is pleasant to contemplate. 
Mr. Baillie said it was astonishing how oddly some 
people look upon matters of food, and some very 
questionable elements were classed under that distinc¬ 
tive appellation. The vegetable kingdom is a wonder¬ 
ful one. Coming between the mineral kingdom on the 
one hand and the animal kingdom on the other, it is, 
he thought, the only kingdom from which man can be 
fed completely and entirely. People would often say 
to him, “I do not know what you can find to eat.” 
He did not know whether that remark was encouraged 
by a due sense of his own bodily proportions. He 
thought it was rather because of the habit people had 
got into of calling their meals by the dish of animal 
food which characterises them. Calling attention 
somewhat closely to the vegetable kingdom, he re¬ 
marked that it might be divided into two great parts— 
namely, the flowering plants, and the cryptogams, or 
plants that do not flower. To the former of these 
divisions we are mainly indebted for all the foods that 
are got from the vegetable kingdom, and to the latter 
belonged such as Mushrooms, which formed no small 
element in the food supply of this country. Mush¬ 
room-growing has increased marvellously of late, and, 
from a market gardener’s point of view, can be most 
profitably cultivated. He held that fruits, in contrast 
to vegetables, are the highest form of food, as they are 
a part of the plant which does not come into direct 
contact with the soil. 
The vegetable kingdom is made up of many families, 
and it would be an interesting study to find out to 
which of these families we are indebted for our food 
supplies. The family to which we are mostly indebted 
is that of Grasses, to which Wheat and Rice belong. 
The immense areaof the families of vegetables throughout 
the world might be gathered from the fact that our 
British flora alone numbered, he supposed, some 100 
orders. In the first division there are something like 
430 genera, and over 2,500 species of plants, though 
many botanists made them very much more. In 
thinking over the subject he had been astonished to 
find to what a small extent we are indebted to the 
British flora for our supplies of food. People utilised 
it very little ; they do not utilise it enough, for he 
believed there were herbs in the field, and many valuable 
food products, if people would only find them out and 
use them. 
It was interesting to note how far science and art 
had come to the assistance of nature in bringing forward 
from their rudimentary forms many vegetables and 
fruits which we in this day very much enjoy. The 
selection of seeds is a matter of the greatest importance 
in growing, and these have to be carefully watched. 
A thing which had struck him was that new varieties 
of vegetables are not introduced with the same frequency 
as new flowers, though every year people were introduc¬ 
ing new vegetables and fruits. He alluded to the great 
pains, patience, and time that had to be taken in raising 
a new variety of Potato before it can be sent to the 
market ; and speaking of his subject from its educational 
aspect, he argued that there is no occupation at once 
so profitable, happy, and peaceful as that of gardening. 
Shows of fruits and flowers were right in their place, as 
they demonstrate what can be done in this England 
of ours, despite all that had been said against it. 
There ought to be a cookery crusade as well as a whisky 
war, and ladies should be taught how to cook vegetarian 
dishes properly. 
BEGONIA NITIDA, 
This is one of the oldest Begonias known to plant 
growers ; but on no account should that fact be a bar 
to its cultivation at the present day. It can be bloomed 
in quite a small state—almost from the cutting-pot; 
but on large and well-fed plants the enormous panicles 
of its pure white flowers are very conspicuous in a 
mixture of cut blooms, or as ornaments in the stove- 
house. Its large shining leaves, from which it takes 
its name (nitida), may be considered ornamental, their 
bright lustre showing very conspicuously in the winter 
months. 
To flower it well it requires plenty of head and pot- 
room, and may be very readily trained to a back wall 
in the stove, where an abundance of light can be had 
for it. A rather loose or porous soil suits it best 
composed chiefly of loam, leaf-soil, and broken bones. 
It roots freely in such a compost, and will well repay 
any labour expended upon it by the quantity of flowers 
produced. 
For bouquet work, or any kind of flower arrangement, 
the panicles may be divided into a number of pieces, 
and each wired or used separately amongst other 
blooms. The use of Begonia flowers with other kinds 
always gives to the whole an exotic look—a rare or 
choice appearance that cannot always be obtained 
amongst some of our very finest stove and greenhouse 
subjects, which, in many instances, are stiff and formal. 
This cannot be said of any of the species of Begonia, 
for their flowers generally hang in that loose and 
graceful order which should please the most fastidious. 
Possibly some might ridicule the idea of growing 
this and other old Begonias ; but in room} 7 houses, and 
where flowers are wanted in quantity, the value of 
these large clustered] forms are doubly appreciated 
through the winter months of the year, when, if they 
have been well treated during the autumn, they will 
yield an abundance of bloom that will be useful and 
profitable.— TV. O. 
-- 
GREAT WESTERN NURSERIES, 
GLASGOW. 
The autumn exhibition of plants and musical 
promenade, held by the Messrs. Thyne, on Saturday, 
5 th November, was patronised by the Lord Provost of 
the city and a large number of the leading inhabitants 
of the city and surrounding country. About 6,000 
people visited the nurseries between 12 noon and 5 p.m. 
The entertainment was, of course, given with a business 
object, and we hope the result may prove wrnrthy of 
the occasion. The day was a fine one for Glasgow in 
dreary dark November, when the variety of flowers is 
exceedingly limited, nevertheless, the show - house, 
which is a long span-roof structure, with centre paths 
and side trenches, was exceedingly gay with autumn¬ 
flowering Heaths, E. hyemalis and E. gracilis being 
largely represented; also the red-berried Solanum 
pseudo-capsicum ; Bouvardias in variety, both scarlet 
and white ; Yallota purpurea, Lilium auratum, Cycla¬ 
men persicum in various colours, and a number of 
various-coloured Chrysanthemums. The promenading 
space in the nursery is very limited—the walks being 
narrow ; but the whole of the houses — thirteen in 
number, some of them of large dimensions — were 
thrown open, a treat which was evidently appreciated, 
and had, no doubt, been much enhanced by an address 
on horticultural progress, delivered at a meeting of the 
Philosophical Society of Glasgow on the Wednesday 
previous, by Mr. James Thyne McCallum. 
The front entrance to the nursery is by a flight of 
steps from one of the main streets of the locality, 
opposite which is a broad walk dividing the houses into 
two sections ; the entrances to all these houses, except 
the front range, are right and left of this walk, and is 
a very good arrangement. The contents of the various 
houses are briefly as follows:—No. 1, front range, is 
called a forcing house, there being a great variety of 
plants grown in it, such as young Pelargoniums, 
Gloxinias, Ferns, &c. in hundreds ; a large number of 
boxes filled with Roman Hyacinths, &c., for winter 
bloom, and a few Orchids, of which the following were 
in bloom: Oncidium tigrinum (Barkeri), Stanhopea 
grandiflera with one enormous bloom ; and the lovely 
small purple-flowered iErides Leeana. House No. 2 
is a wonderfully large stove and contains a rich 
assortment ; the variegated and bronze Dracaenas, 
of which there is a large quantity, varying in height 
from 2 ft. to 3 ft., and clothed with perfect foliage 
down to the rim of the pot, D. Goldieana, D. Massan- 
geana, and especially D. fragrans Lindenii being in 
considerable numbers. Many of the more popular 
Aroids were also here, and large quantities of the 
popular Aspidistra lurida variegata were being grown 
on for furnishing purposes. This house also contains a 
well-managed collection of medium-sized Palms in con¬ 
siderable variety, and an enormous quantity of young 
ones, amongst which Kentias and Geonomas seem to 
predominate. There are also a large number of Yuccas 
and Epiphyllums. A magnificent female plant of 
Cycas revoluta is in flower. A Nepenthes, named 
“Finclleyii.” in the way of Williamsii and Stewartii, 
but with deeper-coloured pitchers, was very attractive. 
No. 3 is a large Palm house, and is mostly filled 
with large representatives of this family, such as are 
used for furnishing on special occasions. Other large 
specimens consist of several forms of Cordyline 
australe, Cycads, and Tree Ferns, the finest of these 
being a grand plant of Cybotium prineeps. No. 4 is 
the show house formerly mentioned, the contents of 
which were arranged with great taste and skill. No. 5 
is filled with late-blooming Chrysanthemums. No. 6 
is a broad low span-house, the two sides of which were 
filled with thrifty young plants of variegated and 
bronze-leaved Dracaenas. The careful blending in 
arrangement of the beautifully variegated with the 
sombre shades of others was a most effective sight, 
nearly all the good old sorts being represented, as well 
as some of more recent introduction, such as are most 
likely to meet the requirements of the trade. No. 7 is 
a similar structure, kept at a lower temperature, in 
which the popular Ficus elastiea abounds ; also 
Geonoma gracilis, so largely in demand for table deco¬ 
ration. The various forms of green-leaved Dracsenas, 
such as D. nutans, D. gracilis, D. congesta, D. rubra, 
and a variety of the latter, called “ Danielliana,” were 
most of them grown by the thousand. No. 8 is a large 
Fern house, the contents, for the most part, being 
confined to such as are most useful for cutting 
purposes. 
No. 9 is another large span house, the roof of 
which is covered with Stephanotis floribunda, and 
which is an invaluable adjunct to the establishment. 
Excepting a few of the more popular Cycads the house 
is filled with thousands of young Palms, suitable for 
sale to the trade or private buyers. 
No. 10 is a white span-roofed structure, with a wide 
centre bed for the larger plants, and two side ones for 
the smaller ones. This is called the Croton house, and 
is for the most part filled with, I believe, such a choice 
and well-managed collection as cannot be excelled else¬ 
where in the three kingdoms. Your reporter has never 
known a house in which these plants colour better. 
The house is about 3 ft. below the level of the 
surrounding ground, there is a good command of 
heat, the plants are near the glass, and being always 
a great feature of the establishment, they are 
kept thoroughly clean. By the list before me I see 
the varieties number forty-one ; and there are some 
seedlings of considerable merit, which have not yet 
been sent out. 
House No. 11 is devoted to Camellias and Azaleas, 
large plants. House No. 12 to small Azaleas, Aralia 
Sieboldii, &c. House No. 13 is the propagating-liouse, 
which is divided into two compartments, and here 
almost everything is to be found from a Lichen to a 
Croton. 
-- 
CHRYSANTHEMUM MACAULAY. 
It is highly desirable that the characters presented 
by this new Japanese variety should be preserved and 
extended to others of the same type, but differing in 
colour. In other words, we would fain hope it would 
constitute the type of a new section that could hardly 
fail to be admired by lovers of this, the queen of 
autumn flowers ; but especially by those who admire 
the curious and fantastic forms of the Japanese 
section, which is at once the most popular of the two 
leading types, and richest in the extent and variety 
of colouring. The Japanese kinds are, moreover, the 
least rigid or formal of these composite flower-heads, 
which makes them greater favourites with artists and 
people in general than the dense arrangements existing 
in other artificial productions of horticulture in this 
genus. The flower-heads exhibited by Mr. William 
Holmes, Frampton Park Nurseries, Hackney, at a 
recent meeting of the Floral Committee of the National 
Chrysanthemum Society, were about 4 ins. or 5 ins. in 
diameter, rather flat-topped, and from the peculiarly 
crested form of the florets, present the general appear¬ 
ance of curled Endive of small size, and compact in the 
arrangement of the leaves. The florets are club-shaped, 
incurved, lacerated or cut at the apex into a number of 
twisted or hooked claw-like segments. The flower- 
heads are massive in general appearance, and yellow, 
heavily suffused -with a bronzy tint. The variety is a 
new one sent out this year by Mons. Simon Delaux. 
