July 25, 1891. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
747 
VEGETABLE NOTES. 
In some seasons during the past decade we have had 
kitchen garden products considerably earlier than 
during the past one, but as regards quality and abun¬ 
dance the latter bears favourable comparison with any 
we can recall to memory within the period indicated. 
In the locality from which I write the weather seems 
to have been especially suitable for heavy soils. To¬ 
wards the end of June, on remarking to a gardener 
that ‘‘rain would be very acceptable now,” he replied 
that he did not think it necessary on his stiff, clayey 
soil, that he had never seen his crops looking better, 
and that weeds were easily destroyed. 
On lighter land we have had little to complain of 
up to this date (i6th July), but a good soaking of 
rain would greatly benefit such crops as Turnips, late 
Peas, and Cauliflowers ; and as I write the proverbial 
dripping weather, which often sets in about St. 
Swithin's day, appears to be imminent. Potatos are 
wonderfully early and good. 
Since finishing our frame crops of Puritans, which 
were of high quality, we find the same variety outside in 
good condition. Veitch's Ashleaf and Sharpe's Victor 
Kidneys are also abundant and good. An excessive 
rainfall would be regretted as being likely to produce 
disease among the Potato crops, which are said to 
be very fine in the districts of this county where 
they are extensively growm, and in some instances 
have commanded exceptionally high prices where 
they have been offered for sale 
Reverting to garden vegetables I may remark that, 
contrary to the experience of Southern growers, we 
have found our latest March sowing of small blue 
seeded Peas to be unusually good, both in size and 
quality. The variety in question is Kentish Invicta. 
Sutton’s market favourite now coming in is carrying 
an enormous crop of very fine pods. Cauliflowers, 
despite the drought, have afforded an abundant 
supply ever since Broccoli was over. Imrie's Early 
is one of the best for a backward season.— M., Ayr. 
VEITCH’S EXONIAN PEA. 
This Pea, which was sent out this season by Messrs. 
Veitch, of Exeter, as a first early wrinkled marrow, 
has won golden opinions in the West of England, and 
seems likely to establish itself as a standard variety 
among the first earlies. It is a Pea with rather a 
light-coloured haulm, bears a profusion of pods of the 
Ne plus Ultra type, dark green inside, and, like the Ne 
plus Ultra, has the peas tightly packed in it. The 
flavour is excellent, quite that of a Marrow Pea, and 
many pods that I have picked contain eight and 
nine, and one pod contained ten good sized Peas. 
It comes in about the same time as Earliest of All, 
about a week before William the First. Unlike 
many of the first earlies it has comparatively a long 
bearing season. Messrs. Veitch say that it is not a 
selection from any existing variety, and it does not 
seem to be, for I have compared it with many of 
the sorts in commerce and it is different in many 
ways from them all. I like the Pea exceedingly, and 
it promises to become, or, to put it correctly, it is, 
as far as my experience of it goes, one of the very 
best early Peas in cultivation. The outcry against 
early Peas has always been that they want flavour, 
but in this variety we have the three essentials of 
earliness, productiveness, and, what is greater than 
either, quality. It only grows three feet in height 
and produces its pods evenly on the haulm, from 
about a foot from the ground to the top. It seems 
to me to be the best introduction in this way for 
very many years.— Dcvonicnsis. 
FOUR HARDY ROCK 
ROSES. 
The past winter proved a severe trial to the species 
of Cistus, or Rock Rose, grown in the gardens of 
this country, and the greater part of them got killed 
outright. Those that remain testify to their relative 
hardiness, and should therefore add much to our 
estimation of them. The individual flowers are 
rather ephemeral in their duration, but they are very 
showy, and a long succession is kept up during the 
months of June and July by the gradual expansion of 
younger buds. This would apply to Cistus lauri- 
folius, C. ladaniferus, C. Cyprius, and C. corbariensis. 
Other kinds not now under notice keep on flowering 
till autumn. 
The Laurel-leaved Rock Rose (C. laurifolius) has 
pyate-lanceolate, leathery, dark green leaves, and. 
appears to be the hardiest, as it bears no evidence of 
having suffered from frost during the past winter, 
which was the most severe the present generation 
has experienced in the southern counties. The 
flowers are of medium size and pure white, with the 
exception of the yellow claw and the numerous 
anthers, and are freely produced in succession from 
the apex of all the stronger shoots. 
The Gum Cistus (C. ladaniferus) is not always 
obtainable true to name, as it is frequently confuted 
with C. Cyprius, which may only be a variety of it, 
although usually spoken of as a distinct species. 
The flowers are produced singly at the apex of the 
shoots, and are white with a yellow claw to the 
petals. A beautiful variety named C. 1 . maculatus 
has an additional blood-red blotch near the base of 
each petal. The linear-lanceolate three-nerved 
leaves are dark green and smooth on the upper 
surface, paler and finely tomentose beneath. 
Closely allied to the above variety is the Cyprus 
Rock Rose (C. Cyprius). Very little difference, if 
any, can be detected between the foliage of the two ; 
but the flowers are larger, measuring from 2 ins. to 
3| ins. across, and are produced in terminal cymes of 
five to seven blooms each. The petals are somewhat 
crumpled, pure white with a yellow claw, and a 
maroon-purple blotch above the yellow. The 
stamens are short and orange coloured. A large 
bush of it is undoubtedly a grand object, and to be 
seen to best advantage should be planted on the lawn 
quite clear of everything, and fully exposed to air 
and sunshine. The wood will ripen all the better 
under those circumstances, and so be enabled to pass 
the winter safely. 
The fourth plant above mentioned is a hybrid 
between C. salvifolius and C. populifolius, and is 
intermediate between the parents. The leaves 
possess the heart-shaped form of the first-named, but 
they are smaller, dark green and wrinkled, as in both 
parents. They are stalked, and not connate at the 
base like the other three kinds. The flowers are of 
medium size, and white with yellow claws. All the 
kinds can be propagated by means of cuttings or 
layers, and also by seeds, with exception perhaps of 
C. corbariensis.— Taxus. 
_ 
FRUITING OF THE PAPER 
MULBERRY. 
Owing to its tender nature and its liability to be 
killed down with frost, the Paper Mulberry (Brous- 
sonetia papyrifera), also known as the Lace Bark Tree, 
very seldom fruits in this country. Probably its 
hardiness would be greatly increased if planters would 
take care to place it in position’s where it would be 
fully exposed to sunshine so as to ripen the young 
wood. If grown under the shade of tall trees the 
shoots produced during the summer time get killed 
in winter, especially if the sheltering trees are 
deciduous, because when leafless the subject under 
notice would then be exposed. 
A bush or small tree at Kew, and which made 
good growth last year, is now showing a fair crop of 
fruit. As the male and female flowers are borne on 
different trees, and that under notice being the seed 
bearing one, the fruit may not ripen. This state of 
matters could be remedied by planting groups of trees 
of both sexes as is done on the Continent, particularly 
in the Jardin de Luxembourg, and in the Avenue de 
Bois de Boulogne at Paris, where many fine trees are 
the glory of the autumn months, when laden with 
their richly-coloured fruits. At both those places the 
trees are about 20 ft. high, with broad spreading 
heads laden with fruit in various stages of develop¬ 
ment during August and September. The compound 
fruit is oblong, and being made up of numerous small 
pips, resembles that of the Black Mulberry except in 
colour, which is orange deepening to scarlet when 
quite ripe. It tastes sweet, but has none of the tart¬ 
ness of the Black Mulberry, and is therefore rather 
insipid. During September it falls from the trees in 
great quantity, just as happens with the Black Mul¬ 
berry in this country. 
There seems no reason why the Paper Mulberry 
should not be planted with a view to the production 
of fruit in the vicinity of London as well as in Paris. 
The temperature there must often be lower than it is 
in London during winter, owing to its inland position. 
The only drawback in this country is the want of sun¬ 
shine to properly ripen the wood in autumn. Last 
September and October we enjoyed a considerable 
amount of sunshine, and to that fact we probably 
owe the fruiting of the tree at Kew. Independently 
of the fruit the curiously and variously-shaped leaves 
are in themselves sufficiently ornamental to warrant 
the planting of the tree in our public gardens and 
parks. The hoary under-surface of the foliage is 
also very conspicuous when ruffl§d by the wind, 
(©(eamtnis front ffjc UDmrltr 
of Su’iunce. 
Stumbling Blocks to Gardeners. —The com¬ 
mon Robinia Pseud-Acacia is properly known as the 
False Acacia, but the first half of the name usually 
gets left out till one gets accustomed to it by habit 
and the proper name is forgotten. Then the Robinias 
come to be confused with the real Acacias, and a 
misunderstanding is often the result. Both belong 
to the same family but to widely distinct groups, and 
to prevent confusion the name Robinia should be 
used if False Acacia is too long to be remembered. 
Dalea is a genus consisting of about ninety species, 
also belonging to the Pea family, and this is liable to 
be confused with the well-known Composites the 
Dahlias. The Daisy (Beilis) is liable to be confused 
with Belis, one of the names of Cunninghamia 
chinensis, a Conifer. The same may be said of 
Brugmansia, a section of the genus Datura and 
Brugmansia, a genus of parasites belonging to the 
order Cytinaceae. A greater mixture even prevails in 
the words Greyia, Grayia, and Graya. The first 
belongs to the Soapwort family, the second to the 
Goosefoot order, and the last is a grass. Garcinia is 
a genus of plants to which the Mangosteen (G. 
Mangostana) belongs. It could easily be confused 
with Garciana, a genus of the Philydracae, but the 
latter is not in cultivation. This cannot be said, 
however, of Philadelphus and Syringa, two genera 
of the commonest garden plants. The tubes of the 
best Turkish pipes are made from the stems of 
species belonging to both genera. The name Syringa 
comes from sirin, a pipe, and is applied botanically to 
the Lilac, while it is applied to Philadelphus as the 
common or English name by gardeners and others, 
thereby often creating a considerable amount of con¬ 
fusion when either genus is referred to without 
making proper discrimination as to which is meant. 
The Ash and human habitations. —Those 
who have travelled much in the northern counties 
of Scotland must have been struck with the 
frequency with which the Ash has been planted 
around old-fashioned farm buildings, homesteads, 
and other human habitations. Often where the 
land is all cultivated, and no other tree of any kind 
is to be seen breaking the monotony of the landscape, 
from three to six old, round-h eaded Ash trees, 
sometimes quite giants of their kind, signalise the 
site of some human habitation. Sometimes after 
the homesteads have been demolished, every stone 
carried away, and the ground turned to pasture, 
the trees remain, marking the site of a former human 
abode. The question arising as to why the Ash 
should be chosen in preference to any other tree, 
seems to point to an old custom of Scandinavian 
origin, and which has been continued long after the 
inhabitants had lost the original significance. The 
following translation from the Edda would seem to 
confirm this opinion—‘‘It is under the Ash Yggdrasill 
where the Gods assemble every day in council. 
It is the greatest and best of all trees ; its branches 
spread over the whole world, and even reach above 
the heaven. Near the fountain which is under 
this Ash stands a very beauteous dwelling, out of 
which go three maidens, named Urd, Vernandi and 
Skuld—the Present, the Past, and the Future. These 
maidens fix the lifetime of all men, and are called 
Norns.” The Scandinavians venerated the Ash 
just as the Druids did the Oak in this country. 
The northern counties of Scotland were largely 
peopled with Scandinavians in ancient times. 
The Blistered-leaved Spiraea. —For some years 
past a Chinese species of Spiraea has been disse¬ 
minated in gardens under the name of S. crispifolia, 
which is appropriate enough, but the corrept 
name is S. bullata. The leaves may be described 
as ovate, rich dark green, small, and closely wrinkled. 
The plant forms a compact and densely branched 
bush, 12 ins. to 15 ins. high, every shoot almost 
of which ends in a small compact corymb of 
flowers, which are of a deep red while in bud, and 
slightly paler when expanded. Owing to the dwarf 
character of the bush it should always be kept to 
the front if planjed in shrubberies, or grown as art 
edging to feedg, gr planted in the rock garden, 
