August 3, 1889. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
775 
Pewits and Plovers in the Garden. 
Have any of your able correspondents ever tried pewits 
or plovers in their gardens for destroying slugs, &e. ? If 
so, I shall be glad if they will give their experience of 
them in your valuable paper. Being very much 
pestered with slugs this spring, our gamekeeper asked 
if I would try a few pewits. Of course I was willing to 
try anything to do away with the pest, and save the 
labour of going over the garden night and morning 
hand-picking them. Well, I have six of them, and 
they do undoubtedly feast upon the slugs, but I am 
not quite sure they do not also eat the leaves of young 
Cauliflowers. I have not seen them doing so, but I 
suspect them, as I have had to replace so many that 
have been devoured by a bird of some kind. I am 
quite sure they will eat Strawberries, because I have 
seen them doing so. If I could be so convinced of 
their eating the young plants I should dispense with 
them at once, as in that case the cure is worse than the 
evil. However, I should like to hear the opinion of 
some of your correspondents, and it may be interesting 
to others in a similar position to myself.— A. B. D. 
Twin Vegetable Marrow. 
We have received from Mr. M. McLean, Vintners Park, 
Maidstone, a curious malformation in the shape of 
what appeared to be two Vegetable Marrow fruits 
grown together. On examination, however, it proved 
that there were at least five different organs more or 
less completely amalgamated. Three of these were 
flowers and two of them leaves. Two of the flowers 
had given rise to fruits of unequal size, but united 
almost to the top ; the third flower had not ex¬ 
panded, but it appeared of full size and quite normal, 
while its stalk only had become united with those of 
the others. In the sinus between the two fruits a leaf 
was united to the latter throughout its length, the 
blade only being free and of no great size. A similar leaf¬ 
stalk ran along the back of another fruit, and the blade > 
together with a short length of its petiole, was free. 
Both leaves appealed to spring from near the top of the 
fruits. The petioles of the two leaves and the pe¬ 
duncles of the two fruits and the flower were united in 
one common piece, and a transverse section of this 
showed that the fibro-vascular tissue had united to form 
one vascular ring—that is, the bundles arranged them¬ 
selves in one continuous series, but wavy in outline, as 
were the external surfaces of the different organs com¬ 
posing the whole. 
Two Choice Helianthermims. 
Several of the species of Helianthemum have a dark- 
coloured blotch at the base of each petal similar to 
what occurs in Cistus ladaniferus maculatus, now well 
known for the great size and fugaceous nature of its 
flowers. Reference may also be made to the beautiful 
Persian Rosa berberidifolia as another striking instance, 
specially applicable in the case of Helianthemum 
formosum and H. ocymoides, because the flowers are 
yellow in all three. The petals of H. formosum have 
a black blotch at the base of each—a singular 
and rather uncommon combination; those of H. 
ocymoides are very similar, and a dark red or crimson 
line is discernible bounding the black blotch. It is 
evident, both from the stem, the flowers, end the 
foliage, that they are closely allied species. The stems 
and under side of the leaves—less distinctly so on the 
upper surface—are felted with hoary pubescence and 
small scales, but H. ocymoides is distinguishable by its 
being furnished with long, loose and somewhat woolly 
hairs in addition. The leaves of the latter are also 
somewhat larger, with broader and shorter petioles, or 
they are narrowed to the base and almost sessile. Both 
are hoary, much-branched, free-flowering shrubs, vary¬ 
ing from 1 ft. to 3 ft. or 4 ft. in height, and are natives 
of south-western Europe, H. formosum being perhaps 
confined to Portugal. They would prove hardy and 
suitable for the more favoured parts of Britain. 
Dwarf Cornel. 
The name given here would be applicable to other 
species of Cornus besides C. canadensis, but most of the 
species cultivated in gardens are shrubs, whereas that 
under notice is herbaceous like our native C. suecica, but 
rather taller and stouter. The upper leaves are whorled, 
and terminating the stems when in flower is a whorl of 
four large white bracts, resembling a single bloom, 
constituting one of the most ornamental features of the 
plant. The fruit consists of a cluster of red berries 
about the size of peas, and when mature they are very 
attractive during late summer and autumn. The plant 
delights in a semi-shaded position, and will succeed all 
the better if a good quantity of peat is mixed with the 
soil in which it is grown. It makes a beautiful carpet 
to beds planted with taller naked-legged subjects, and if 
American plants of the Heath family are planted along 
with it, the association constitutes a very happy one. 
It w r as originally introduced in 1774, but is yefrather 
sparingly distributed in gardens. 
Nature-pruned Currant Bushes. 
This, I suppose, is no pruning at all. The current 
article, even among Currant bushes, is the knife. 
“ Hallo, just look here,” said a brother gardener to me 
the other day, when going the round of his garden ; 
and stooping down he lifted up what appeared to be a 
mass of green boughs and leaves, out of a patch of 
several yards square. Here were to be seen beauty, 
usefulness, and, I suppose, harmony, for I never saw 
such negligent pruning, yet, withal, such a crop of 
fruit. The bushes were merely stuck there in the first 
instance to blind an unsightly object, and eventually 
the fruits were accidentally found. They are annually 
our best cropping trees in the garden. Herein lies a 
moral.— B. L. 
Saxifraga diversifolia. 
We have an exceedingly wide range of variation in this 
genus, some of which may be witnessed even amongst 
our native wildings. The species under notice, a 
Himalayan representative, is quite distinct from any 
other in cultivation, and at a casual glance more 
resembles a Hypericum than a Saxifrage. The radical 
leaves are spathulate, and arranged in a rosette around 
the upright stems, which are about 15 ins. high, and 
furnished with shorter and broader oval or oblong ones 
clasping at the base. All are soft in texture, deep 
green, and apparently suited for wet or marshy places, 
such as that in which we find the Parnassias, which it 
greatly resembles in habit. The flowers are borne in 
terminal corymbose cymes, and are large and bright 
yellow. Several other species of Saxifraga have yellow 
flowers, such as S. Hirculus and S. azoides ; and these 
it may be remarked frequent marshy and wet moun¬ 
tainous places. A well-flowered piece may be seen in 
the rockery at Kew. 
Cabbage Lettuce, New York. 
By the description of this Lettuce it must be a decided 
advance on existing sorts, and likely to become a boon 
to the gardener in furnishing the salad bowl, especially 
if, as Mr. Kipling says, it is a non-rolling stone, not 
bolting off and producing seed before hearting as some 
do. Will Mr. Kipling kindly inform us whether it had 
special or ordinary treatment, as the soil must have 
been in good heart previously to effect such results?— 
B. L. , 
Ficus repens. 
This is a most useful and accommodating plant, and 
will grow in almost any out-of-the-way position in the 
stove or greenhouse. For rambling over and covering 
up any old rough pieces of wall or bare place at the 
back, for rockwork, or in ferneries, however dark or 
covered in, there is scarcely any plant more suitable ; 
and although it will grow most luxuriantly in warm, 
moist, shady places, it will most readily accommodate 
itself to almost any position. As a pot plant it is 
useful for furnishing. Darwin, in his interesting work 
on Climbing Plants, mentions a very curious thing in 
connection with this plant. It illustrates how Nature, 
under peculiar circumstances, can furnish her subjects 
with means suitable to their requirements. In the case 
of a plant of Ficus repens that he observed climbing up 
glass (or upon any other smooth surface—which it will 
readily do), the young rootlets emitted minute drops of 
a clear fluid, not in the least milky, like that exuded 
from a wound ; and a most remarkable thing in con¬ 
nection with this fluid was that it did not soon dry, for 
he placed some drops about half the size of a pin’s 
head upon some slips of glass, over which he scattered 
some small grains of sand. This he left in a drawer 
during hot and dry weather. If the liquid had been 
really water it would have dried in a few minutes, but 
Darwin says it remained in a fluid state, closely sur¬ 
rounding the sand, during 128 days. How much 
longer it would have done so he could not say. After a 
period of twenty-three days from the time the rootlets 
came in contact with the glass they were firmly cemented 
to it, showing that the rootlets first secreted a viscid 
fluid, and then absorbed the watery parts, ultimately 
leaving a cement, which bound the plant to the glass. 
How very interesting are the works of nature, and how 
much Darwin has done in opening up and showing to 
us so many of her wonders !—Alfred Gant. 
Primula calycina. 
The hardy Primulas mostly flower in spring or early 
summer, but many of them by different methods of 
cultural treatment may be made to bloom much later. 
This applies to P. calycina amongst other species. A 
batch planted in the open ground at Kew has been 
flowering freely for some time past, and owing to the 
cool and moist nature of the season it is still in beauty. 
The leaves are oblanceolate, pointed, bright green, and 
shining, and arranged in a dense rosette or tuft, from 
which the scape arises to the height of 4 ins. or 6 ins., 
bearing a close umbel of deep purple flowers with a 
white eye. The plants are quite young, and owing to 
this fact, as well as to their being planted in the open 
ground, must be attributed their flowering so late. 
It is a native of the Alps of Lombardy, and like many 
other Alpine species, does not enjoy a wide distribution 
in this country, except in botanic gardens and in the 
collections of hardy plant specialists. In habit and 
foliage the plant miy be compared to P. spectabilis. 
It is sometimes grown under the name of P. glaucescens. 
Tomato, Laxton’s Open-Air. 
Amongst several varieties grown by us in a cool pit, 
this sort was the first ready to gather. It is a remark¬ 
ably free setter, of good size, and prolific, fruiting to 
within several inches from the ground, and continuing 
up the plant for several consecutive joints, reminding 
one of the exaggerated engravings we often see in print, 
but seldom attained, except by the aid of the engraver 
and printer’s ink. — B. L. 
Oswego Tea. 
The darker-flowered forms of Monarda are the most 
appreciated in gardens, because the leafy bracts sur¬ 
rounding the compactly arranged inflorescence are also 
more or less highly coloured, and add greatly to the 
conspicuous appearance of the flowers themselves. The 
species under notice (Monarda didyma) is generally 
admitted to be the best of all the cultivated species at 
least. The latter are by no means numerous it is true, 
but they labour under a very complicated synonymy, 
arising no doubt in part from the variable habit of some 
species in a state of nature. In moderately moist 
seasons the flowering period is much more prolonged 
than when the soil gets hard, dry, and baked. The 
flowers are of a bright reddish scarlet, and the bracts 
are more or less intensely coloured like the flowers. 
Emilia coecinea. 
To many gardeners, perhaps, this old-fashioned annual 
is better known under the name of Cacalia coccinea. 
In general appearance it bears a strong resemblance to 
Hieracium aurantiacum when seen a short way off, but 
the flower-heads are in reality smaller, and the leaves 
larger and differently shaped. It is closely allied to 
the ITawkweeds in the vast order Compositre, of which 
it is a member. The larger leaves are arranged in a 
radical rosette, while all are of a rich dark green colour, 
and together with the unusual hue of the flower-heads, 
should warrant it a place amongst a collection of 
annuals. It was introduced from South America in 
1799, but is by no means common, at least in this 
country. A good-sized patch or bed of it has been 
sown with the rest of the collection of annuals now on 
trial in the gardens of the Royal Horticultural Society, 
Chiswick. —•— 
Castillega indivisa. 
The coloured bracts of the various species of Castil¬ 
lega recall what occurs in Salvia Horminum and its 
varieties. All are difficult to cultivate, a fact appar¬ 
ently due to their being semi-parasitic in their native 
habitats like other members of the Scrophularia family, 
such as Euphrasia, Melampyrum, and Bartsia, which 
are natives of this country. The best plan in growing 
them is to raise a fresh batch from seeds every year, 
grow them on and plant out on the rockery, in the 
open border, or to cultivate them in pots for the 
decoration of the hardy plant house. They must on 
all occasions be freely exposed to light, and in houses 
must be well ventilated. The species under notice has 
flower-stems varying from 6 ins. to 12 ins. in height, 
bearing small flowers in a terminal spike. The blooms 
are greenish yellow on first expansion, but as they get 
older, become white, tipped with pink or rose. The 
large leafy bracts, however, are of a bright carmine-red, 
or the lower ones tipped with that colour, constituting 
by far the most ornamental part of the plant and giving 
it a very lively appearance when grown in tufts. The 
leaves are narrowly oblong and generally entire, but 
occasionally exhibit a few coarse ragged teeth or lobes. 
It may be seen in the herbaceous ground at Kew. 
