January 9, 1892. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
289 
made open to all grown in the United Kingdom, and 
Messrs. Dobbie & Co., Rothesay, give a handsome 
Silver Medal as the first prize for twelve new and 
distinct Violas. The Rt. Hon. Joseph Chamberlain, 
M.P., has again consented to be the president for 
the year, and applications for schedules should be 
made to the Hon. Sec., Mr. W. Dean, Dolphin Road, 
Spark Hill, Birmingham. 
Small Fruit Farms in Essex.—A Pitsea correspon- 
nent informs the Essex County Standard that during 
the past year, a large quantity of freehold land has 
been sold in that neighbourhood at an average price 
of £5 per plot, and during the qast two months some 
thousands of fruit trees, as also Currant and Goose¬ 
berry bushes, have been planted by the purchasers, 
and as it is now a certainty that a factory will ere 
long be erected within a mile of Pitsea Junction 
Station, which will afford employment for about 300 
hands, it is anticipated there will be a good market 
for all kinds of fruit and vegetables, independent of 
Southend, to which place most of the produce of 
Pitsea is sent. Poultry farming pays well in the 
district, nearly all the eggs, fowls, ducks, etc., finding 
a market at Gravesend and Southend. At the time 
of writing this letter a new-laid egg realises twopence- 
halfpenny, always one shilling a dozen in summer. 
Milk is very much in demand. The taxes are nomi¬ 
nal—viz., on a house of £25 a year, £2 clears all 
round. 
Vriesia Leodiensis. —Hybrid Vriesias are getting 
more and more common. That above mentioned 
was obtained from V. psittacina Morreniana, 
crossed with the pollen of V. Barilleti. The 
habit of the plant is dwarf, with the leaves 
compactly arranged in a vasiform tuft, above 
which the flower stem rises clear of them. The 
bracts are the most conspicuous feature of the in¬ 
florescence, being of large size and standing as they 
do in two dense ranks, forming a flattened spike of 
elliptic outline. The basal portion of each bract is 
red, and the upper portion yellow, tinted throughout 
or merely tipped with green. The flowers themselves 
are yellow, but of much shorter duration than the 
bracts. The plant makes a pretty subject for a stove. 
There is a coloured figure of the inflorescence, and 
a woodcut showing the habit of the plant in the 
January number of the Revue de VHorticulture Beige. 
SEED PEAS. 
Out of several seedsmen’s catalogues, which have 
come to hand, I notice that one, and so far one only, 
warns purchasers that seed Peas may for next 
season's sowing be of somewhat inferior quality, 
owing to the very wet weather which prevailed 
when Peas were ripening. One of the best methods 
wherewith to grapple with a difficulty of that kind is 
to refrain from sowing so early as usual. Very 
much will be gained if a full fortnight longer than 
usual be allowed to elapse, especially in the case of 
discoloured or wrinkled Peas. It does not at all 
follow because seeds are discoloured that they are 
unfertile, for vast quantities of Peas, Broad Beans, 
and Runner Beans will have been found materially 
discoloured, yet only stained by the pods, and not at 
all otherwise deteriorated. 
Perhaps it will be advised to sow seed more 
thickly than usual. That is not, however, good 
advice. For, as a rule, Peas are always sown far 
too thickly. It will, however, be a good plan to sow 
many 5-in. pots with seed of the respective sorts 
sown in the garden, as plants so raised may, if the 
outdoor plants come very thin, be very useful to 
fill up with, whilst if not so needed they can turn 
out and make extra rows. For the supply of extra 
early Peas, especially of fine sorts like Duke of 
Albany for early exhibition* it is a capital plan to 
sow about twelve seeds in a 6-in. pot. Later, if 
necessary, pull out all the weak plants down to nine 
only, and when these are nine to twelve inches high. 
In the meantime let them be kept in light and air, and 
allowed to grow sturdy, being also supported by 
small sticks and tied. 
Such plants as these turned out into good soil on 
a warm border in rows 5 ft. apart and the clumps 
unbroken, 12m. apart in the rows, wonderfully 
soon come into bloom, and carry grand crops. 
We constantly err in not giving to Peas enough of 
room, and no great harm will have been done if the 
present indifferent seed stock should lead growers to 
be less liberal of seed and more liberal of room, — 4. 
HARDY TREES & SHRUBS. 
The Sea Buckthorns. 
The Sea Buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) is the 
only true species known, but as it enjoys a wide dis¬ 
tribution round the coasts of Europe, and in North 
and Central Asia, as well as the Himalayas, it varies 
considerably, and several forms have received distinct 
names. The typical form is found in various places 
along the south and east coast of England, and is 
plentiful on the north coast of the Isle of Wight near 
St. Helens, where it grows rather plentifully and 
bears fruit. Owing to its natural habitats being on 
the sea coast, it is found useful for planting in the 
vicinity of the sea where many trees and shrubs refuse 
to grow, especially when exposed to winds laden with 
brackish moisture or salt spray. It grows with equal 
or even more vigour inland, and therefore proves 
valuable for planting in parks and gardens, where 
the tree attracts the eye of the beholder often from 
a great distance by the silvery appearance of the 
foliage during the summer months and by the berries 
in winter. 
Propagation is readily effected by seeds, layers, 
and suckers. The latter is perhaps the most suitable 
and practical method for various reasons. Plants 
are readily raised from seeds, but they have several 
Hippopii.e rhamnoides. 
disadvantages when produced in this way : they take 
a longer time to attain a fruiting state, and there is 
the uncertainty whether they will prove male or 
female, for the two kinds of flowers are produced on 
different individuals, and before berries can be ex¬ 
pected the male and female trees must be grown in 
proximity to one another, preferably in the same 
clump or group. In the nurseries of this country 
propagation by suckers is the usual method adopted, 
and suckers being freely produced when the plant 
is gro-vn as a bush there is no necessity for resorting 
to any other means. It can then be determined 
whether the plants are male or female, and when new 
plantations or groups are made the planter can 
always know what he is doing, and depend upon the 
plants fruiting when the seasons are favourable at 
least. In planting it may always be borne in mind 
that the tree attains the largest size when planted in 
deep sandy soil, at all events in soil that is loose, 
friable and well drained. On the sea coast it will 
prove valuable for planting in exposed and bleak 
situations. Under more favourable conditions, how¬ 
ever, it will attain a height of 15 ft. or 20 ft. 
H. rhamnoides.— The British and typical form of 
the plant has its branches terminated by a thorn, 
giving rise to the popular appellation of Buckthorn. 
The leaves are linear-lanceolate, covered with scales 
on the under-surface, and silvery. The flowers are 
yellow but not very conspicuous, and are followed by 
Qrange-cqjoured berries in great profusion, heavily 
lading the branches, ripening in September, and 
hanging on the bushes or trees all the winter after 
the leaves have dropped, when, of course, they become 
more conspicuous. Our illustration of a spray will 
give an idea of the fruitful nature of the plant, and its 
appearance in autunm. 
H. r. salicifolia.— This form is a native of Siri- 
nagur in Nepaul, and other parts of the Himalayas, 
and is sometimes considered a distinct species, but 
the distinguishing characteristics are often not very 
well marked. The plant is altogether more robust 
and spineless, with larger lanceolate leaves of a 
whiter and more snowy appearance on the under¬ 
surface. It is scarcely so hardy as the type, but 
makes very vigorous growth during the summer 
months. 
H. r. augustifolia.— As the name indicates the 
leaves of this variety are narrower than in the type, 
and the young branches of a more pendulous habit 
of growth, whereas in H. rhamnoides itself the 
stems and branches are rather rigid and erect. 
--- 
POTATOS: EARLY v. LATE 
PLANTING. 
A member of the Royal Agricultural Society, and a 
cultivator of Potatos on a large scale, Mr. George 
Malden, has communicated to the Society's Journal 
(No. 8, Dec. 31st), the results of some experiments 
which he carried outlast season, in order to ascer¬ 
tain what would be the exact result of late planting, 
a practice which was advised in some of the daily 
papers. For the purposes of the trial one side of a 
field which had previously been prepared for Potatos 
was set aside. The land was an uniformly good 
light loam resting on a gravelly sub-soil, and there¬ 
fore well-drained. An even dressing of about fifteen 
tons to the acre of good farm-yard manure had been 
put on and ploughed in during the autumn, and the 
land remained untouched throughout the winter. In 
the early spring the field received a thorough work¬ 
ing, and was brought down to a deep tilth. Plots of 
one pole each were carefully marked off. 
Fourteen varieties were selected, the tubers being 
of ordinary seed size and grown on the farm the 
previous year. The varieties were Myatt's Ashleaf, 
Beauty of Hebron, Duke of Albany, The Thorburn, 
Village Blacksmith, Daniel's Advance, first earlies ; 
Empire State, The Daniels, White Elephant, second 
earlies; and Future Fame, Stourbridge Glory, The 
Bruce, Magnum Bonum, and Imperator, main crop. 
Plantings of each variety were made on March 31st, 
April 30th, May 31st, June 14th, and June 2Sth, and 
after the first planting the remaining sets were turned 
over every other week and the sprouts destroyed in 
order not only to prevent them from heating and ex¬ 
hausting their vigour, but also to ensure that the 
different plantings should start their growth on equa 
terms. The earlies were planted in rows 24 in. apart, 
and 18 in. asunder in the rows, and the mid-season 
and main croppers in rows at the same distance apart, 
but 21 in. between the sets. 
The result as regards ripening showed that though 
the plantings occupied a period from first to last of 
twelve weeks five days, the greatest difference 
between the time of ripening of the first planted and 
the last of any one variety was only six weeks, and 
this occurred in the first earlies only. Of the mid¬ 
season only one variety, White Elephant, made a 
difference of as much as five weeks ; and the longest 
interval in the main crop varieties was but four 
weeks, and that in the case of one variety alone, The 
Bruce. 
As regards the weight of produce it seemed only 
reasonable to expect the best results from those 
plantings that had the longest time to develop in the 
ground, and this was almost invariably the case, for 
of the fourteen plantings made on March 31st, 
thirteen yielded more than those planted a month 
later, while the fourteenth, Myatt’s Ashleaf, produced 
an equal bulk. Of the same number planted on April, 
30th, thirteen again were in excess of those planted 
on May 31st, and one, White Elephant, yielded less. 
Of the twelve varieties planted on May 31st and June 
14th : the whole number planted on the earlier date 
yielded more than those planted later ; and the whole 
of the ten varieties planted respectively on June 14th 
and 28th yielded more on the first than the second 
plantings. The average weight per acre of those 
planted on March 31st was about 19 cwt. in 
excess Sf those planted onApri! 30th ; 46 .J cwt, above 
