February 16, 1889< 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
391 
have been brought to this country in 1573 from the 
Volga, but for 200 years remained a gardener’s curiosity. 
Mr. Joseph Myatt, of Deptford, was the first English¬ 
man to cultivate it on a large scale, and in or about 
1810 sent his sons to the Borough Market with five 
bunches, of which they could only sell three. They 
took ten the next time, and sold them all ; and Myatt 
then resolved to plant an acre the following year. N ow 
Rhubarb is so commonly grown that early in summer 
it ceases to have any money value, and a little later is 
thrown away in vast quantities ; and we have seen 
cartloads tossed carelessly on one side. Vegetable 
Marrows have also grown in favour of late years, and 
are now a valuable addition to the national dietary. 
The same is equally true of the Tomato, which con¬ 
tinues dear, however, especially in small towns, though 
it has of late wandered from the precincts of first-class 
fruiterers’ establishment, and is at last being seen in 
small shops in obscure streets. It is so prolific and 
easily cultivated, that before long it ought to be found 
in every grocer’s, and in hundreds of thousands of 
houses. 
Boronia megastigma. 
Annually, as the season comes round, the houses 
where this plant is grown become filled with the 
grateful odour of its brown inconspicuous flowers, 
which, were it not for this latter quality, would be 
passed by unnoticed ; and, in fact, this is the case till 
their all-pervading odour attracts the attention of 
visitors, and induces them to ascertain from whence it 
comes. The plant is a member of the Orange family, 
many species of which also exhale a pleasing perfume, 
not only from the flowers, but also from the leaves. 
The latter are permeated with resinous glands, which 
are very characteristic of this order. 
Brownea grandiceps. 
With the exception of B. coccinea, this is the freest 
flowering of the species, and may be grown not only 
for the great beauty of its flowers, but also for its 
foliage, which is extremely handsome while growth is 
being made in summer. The leaves at that period, 
and for a long time after they first expand, are of a 
peculiarly pale green colour, blotched and striped with 
brown. Those of B. coccinea are of a beautiful rosy 
red at the same period. The flower-heads of B. grandi- 
ceps are, however, not only the most handsome of the 
two, but they elicit much admiration from those who 
see them. They are of a bright red, and although the 
individuals are small, they are arranged in a dense 
head or rosette, so as to appear like a huge double 
Hollyhock. The central flowers are the last to open, 
and form a short compact cone in the centre. "When 
fully expanded they may be compared to a truss of 
Rhododendron flowers of great beauty. The plant, or 
small tree as it may be called, is a native of the 
mountainous districts of Caraccas, and although it is 
said to flower in July and August, it also blooms in 
winter at Kew, where it may be seen now. 
Anthracite. 
I think your correspondent, Mr. A. Hawkes, is right 
when he comes to the conclusion that the right way to 
use anthracite is to put it on the fire in lumps, without 
breaking it up small. I have had no experience in 
using it in Weeks’ upright tubulars, but am persuaded 
that for ordinary saddles it is a boon to those who are 
able to procure it, being far more powerful than coke, 
and when supplied in large blocks gives far less trouble 
in stoking. The coal we use is that which is supplied 
by Mr. Essery, of Swansea, in large blocks, many of 
them weighing 1 cwt. or more. With a good draught, 
a large lump will keep the water boiling seven or eight 
hours, which is far more satisfactory than firing with 
coke, and finding the temperatures low in the morning 
if left for more than four hours at a stretch. Mr. J. 
Peebles was unfortunate in not getting good anthracite, 
and it is no wonder that he abandoned the use of that, 
which appears to have been only a worthless imitation ; 
hut I think if he tried a truck-load of the genuine 
article, he would be glad to say good-bye to coke. — 
W. Parks, Bickley. 
Pruning Gooseberry Bushes. 
On reading Mr. Gaut’s sensible paper on the above 
subject at p. 369, I was astonished when I came to the 
sentence where he avers that “the early part of March 
is universally considered to be the best time for 
pruning.” Now, according to trustworthy calendar 
writers of the past, this practice does not seem to be 
generally followed by southern cultivators, as one of 
them, in a back volume of a contemporary, distinctly 
says:—“We endeavour to have all our pruning, in¬ 
cluding bush fruits, finished before Christmas ” ; and I 
am certain that were your correspondent to make a 
tour through the most noted hardy fruit gardens north 
of the Tweed at the time indicated, he would sec few, 
if any unpruned bushes, unless a new departure as 
to the time of pruning has recently been introduced. 
Apart from the fact that gardening staffs are necessarily 
engaged in more seasonable work in March, it is not 
uncommon for fruit bushes in early districts to have 
pushed their buds considerably by that time, more 
especially after such an unusually mild winter as we 
have recently experienced, so that to leave bushes 
unpruned thus late means much sacrifice of their 
vigour. Pruning in the north is generally finished by 
the end of January.— D. Mackie, Ayrshire. 
Ruellia Portellse. 
The foliage of this plant is sufficiently' ornamental to 
repay the trouble of growing it even in the absence of 
flowers. Young plants, or those that have been cut 
back, form compact little bushes with dark green 
leaves, the mid-rib and principal veins of which are of 
a lively silvery grey. The flowers are of good average 
size compared with the strength of the stems bearing 
them, and are of a bright rosy pink. They have long 
slender tubes, which become suddenly kneed or bent, 
widened near the limb, and plentifully produced 
during the winter months. It is soft-wooded or of 
herbaceous texture, and coming from Brazil likes a 
warm or intermediate temperature. Under these con¬ 
ditions it is flowering freely in the gardens of W. 
Howard, Esq., The Grove, Teddington. 
Celosia pyramidalis. 
These are very useful plants for conservatory work 
and house decoration during the summer and autumn 
months. They can be flowered in different sized pots, 
from a 43 to a 12-in., according to requirement, and 
remain a long time in bloom. Those who have much 
decorative work to do at that time of the year would 
find them almost indispensable ; some of the varieties 
are very pretty, and combine many different forms and 
shapes in flower, some of which are very grotesque. 
They present several different shades of colour in 
yellow, orange, or crimson. The seed of the first batch 
and for large plants should be sown at once, with 
successional sowings as required. They are very easily 
grown, especially if a frame with a little bottom heat 
giving off a moist atmosphere can be spared for them. 
Care should be taken not to let the plants become 
drawn in their young state or the stems will become 
long and weak, which spoils their beauty ; this can be 
avoided by keeping the plants close to the glass, 
pricking off the young seedlings as soon as they can be 
handled, and shifting on the plants to the size required 
before they become pot-bound. Celosia is a gross 
feeder, and delights in a large quantity of well-decom¬ 
posed hot-bed farmyard manure in the soil; in fact, I 
have grown them in nothing else, and they will make 
fine large plants often 3 ft. through if treated in this 
way. They will also be greatly benefited by giving 
them liberal supplies of manure water as soon as the 
pots become filled with roots after their final shift.— 
Alfred Gaut. 
Calathea zebrina. 
The rapidity with which this, as well as other mem¬ 
bers of the family, can be increased has been well 
shown by a specimen at The Grove, Teddington. 
Eighteen months ago it was a small but healthy piece 
in a 6-in. pot. It was potted and encouraged to make 
growth, and at the present time measures about 6 ft. 
across the spreading foliage. The leaves of a freely 
grown plant are always so richly striped as to merit the 
specific name, and unless the plant is too much exposed 
to bright sunshine in a dry atmosphere, it certainly 
merits the trouble of growing it, and the space occupied. 
That the sun acts injuriously upon it is evidenced by 
the way the leaves become rolled up when sunshine 
suddenly bursts out after some days of dull and cloudy 
weather. Other kinds present movements in response 
to other agencies, folding downwards during the day, 
and again becoming erect at sunset. 
Passiflora Watsoniana. 
A beautiful coloured illustration of this Passion 
Flower is given in L'Illustration Horticole, pi. 74. Its 
origin is unknowm, as it was received from a London 
horticultural establishment under the name of Passiflora 
kermesina, under which name it was grown until it 
flowered in the autumn of 1886. The sepals are green, 
margined with white, and the petals pale lilac. The 
double crown is the most ornamental part of the 
flower ; the outer series of segments of this are long, 
spreading, and of a violet colour, transversely banded 
with white near the base. The inner series of segments 
are dark violet, and only half the length of the outer 
ones. The habit of growth and the three-lobed leaves are 
precisely similar to those of P. Raddiana, better known 
under the name of P. kermesina. It is grown in the 
Palm house at Kew, where it flowers very abundantly. 
Daphne odora rubra. 
This old-fashioned greenhouse plant is best known in 
gardens under the name of D. indica rubra. The true 
D. indica of the botanist is, however, a very different 
plant, and quite worthless for horticultural purposes ; 
in fact, it is not sufficiently showy to warrant its in¬ 
troduction. In D. odora, however, and its red-flowered 
variety, we have subjects which, when of fair size, 
would scent a whole house with a single plant. Certain 
odours, when strong—such as that we find in certain 
forms of the Polyanthus Narcissus, or in some of the 
Stanhopeas amongst Orchids—become extremely dis¬ 
agreeable because too powerful ; but in the case of the 
little shrub under notice, the odour is as sweet and 
agreeable as it is powerful. Another quality of great 
value is that it may be had in flower during the winter 
months without any other forcing than simply being 
stood in a greenhouse. During summer it may be 
kept in a cold frame, or stood in the open air along 
with other greenhouse plants. In the more favoured 
parts of the south of England it will even withstand 
the winter in the open air. The red variety we noticed 
recently in the gardens of Sir John Lubbock, High 
Elms, Hayes, Kent. 
The Dwarf Artillery Plant. 
Tiie typical form of Pilea muscosa, under favourable 
conditions, forms a compact bush of from 12 ins. to 
15 ins. in height, and when studded with its tiny 
flowers, which are red while in bud, it is extremely 
pretty. The withering flowers, however, are apt to 
make the plant lose its fresh appearance. There is a 
variety under cultivation that may be seen in the 
greenhouse at Kew—namely the dwarf Artillery Plant 
(P. m. nana), the flowers of which become aborted at a 
very early stage of their existence ; they are never very 
large nor conspicuous, so that the plant maintains at 
all seasons, when grown under favourable conditions, a 
healthy green appearance. The plume-like shoots and 
spreading branches attain a height of about 6 ins. 
Ficus indica. 
An Indian species of Ficus is grown under this name at 
Forest Hill, in the nurseries of Messrs. Laing & Sons, 
who find that it is equally suitable for the atmosphere 
of a greenhouse, if not better than F. elastica, the 
common India Rubber plant. If so, we should expect 
it to answer very well as a window subject, for which the 
India Rubber plant is now so noted, but which is 
liable to damp off under unfavourable circumstances. 
Another complaint is that it grows so rapidly that it 
becomes too tall for the window in a few years. The 
species under notice grows very slowly, and is more 
inclined to form short lateral branches than the India 
Rubber plant, which runs up with a single stem. The 
leaves are shorter that those of the latter, but pro¬ 
portionately broader, ovate elliptic, blunt, deep green 
and leathery in character, more so than those of the 
Australian Banyan (F. macrophylla), which is also a 
very hardy kind. 
Two Graceful-leaved Crotons. 
Narrow-leaved Crotons are the most popular at 
present for table decoration. The broader-leaved kinds 
are, however, beautiful objects for specimen plants 
when well grown. The popular taste at present 
demands narrow-leaved Crotons, Dracienas, Aralias, 
and similar things. C. superbum has leaves ranging 
from 12 ins. to 15 ins. in length, and arch over very 
gracefully. They are also narrowly linear, and irregu¬ 
larly blotched with golden yellow along the centre, or 
the blotches may run into one another and fuse, forming 
a continuous gold band, bounded on either side by 
green edges. Another very narrow-leaved and quite 
distinct variety is C. Laingii, which is exceedingly 
variable, even on one and the same plant, with regard 
to colouring. The greater bulk of the leaves are of a 
dark green colour, with a yellow band along the centre, 
and the principal nerves crimson. A few are wholly 
green, and some are wholly of a bright yellow colour. 
In the collection of Crotons at Forest Hill, in the 
nursery of Messrs. J. Laing & Sons, these two are 
noticeable as particularly suitable for dinner-table 
decoration. 
