December 7, 1889. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
217 
nature all seedless varieties would soon die out, while 
the more fertile kinds would take possession of the 
field. 
There is a similar tendency amongst cultivated and 
highly improved varieties of Orange. Thick-skinned 
Oranges, as they appear in the markets of this country, 
are generally found to contain but few seeds, while 
thin-skinned ones, as a rule, have plenty of seeds. Of 
course, this is a difference of variety, but it is brought 
about by cultivation and the selection of sorts showing 
an excess in the development of the fleshy or pulpy 
part in preference to seeds. Cross-breeding of varieties 
seems also to favour sterility in certain cases. Then to 
perpetuate varieties it is necessary to have recourse to 
grafting. 
An article containing a series of facts obtained by 
original observation has been communicated to the 
Revue Horticole by Mr. F. de Rijk, of Java. This 
treats of the propagation of plants by cuttings, layers, 
rhizomes, and parts thrown off otherwise than seed ; 
and the writer wishes to show that subjects reproduced 
or multiplied in this way for any considerable length 
“THE COUNTESS” MELON. 
The present year will not be numbered in the gar¬ 
deners’calendar among those which proved exceptionally 
favourable to Melon cultivation, or perhaps we ought to 
say specially favourable to the development of flavour 
in Melons, for it was, in truth, quite the contrary. Of 
the large number which came under our notice at 
flower shows, but few even of the well-recognised good 
sorts came up to the usual standard, and among the 
new ones of the year a still smaller percentage proved 
worthy of consideration at the hands of those seeking 
novelties. 
Foremost among the few which were distinguished 
for their high quality and promising character, in our 
opinion, was The Countess, a variety raised by Mr. 
Goodacre, of Elvaston Castle Gardens, between the 
American Musk Melon and the old Cashmere, and of 
which he exhibited samples at the meeting of the 
Fruit Committee on July 9 th last. It is a thick, white- 
fleshed variety, with a thin yellow rind, and of 
exquisite flavour. With this latter excellent quality is 
also combined an extraordinary free-bearing habit, as 
kept constantly at work, utilising it for things that 
one cannot find room for in the spring months of the 
year. Many kinds of plants may be looked after now 
that will be nicely established by the early spring 
months, thus having them cleared out of the way by the 
time the heavy work of spring propagation commences. 
Aspidistras. 
These are plants that demand attention now if an 
addition to the stock is contemplated. Those that are 
intended for splitting up should have all the soil 
shaken away from them, when it will be found that, at 
the present time, a number of young growths are 
starting from the base of the mature foliage, or, in 
fact, starting a new running root-stock from that 
portion of the old to which the mature leaf is attached. 
Should the plants be in a moderately healthy condition 
this old stem may be cut up into as many pieces as 
there are new eyes pushing, and if a leaf, or some leaves, 
can be kept intact to the old stems so much the better 
for the plant becoming established. Each piece should 
be potted into as small a pot as it can be conveniently 
got into, using sandy loam for the purpose of plunging 
“The Countess” Melon. 
of time, have a tendency to lose the faculty of pro¬ 
ducing seeds, whereas those raised from seeds retain 
the faculty. Where the seeds are useful, he maintains 
that multiplication by any other way than that of seeds 
must be avoided. Instances given are the Almond, 
Coffee, Chestnut, Walnut, and Cacao trees. Plants 
that have lost the power of producing seeds, owing to 
their long-continued propagation by means of suckers, 
rhizomes, and cuttings, are Bananas, Pine Apples, 
Ginger, and Cassava, and he might have added the 
Sugar Cane. The Bananas found wild in Java bear 
small fruits filled with seeds, and are unfit for con¬ 
sumption, whereas those that have been cultivated 
from suckers bear large, good and richly-flavoured 
fruit. The Ginger plant is always propagated by 
rhizomes, and has so lost the power of producing seeds 
that it can hardly any more be made to flower, while 
the Cavassa is in much the same condition. 
Cockroaches.—A correspondent of the American 
Florist states that he has found sugar and Paris green 
(arseniate of copper) the most effectual remedy for 
cockroaches. He used one cup of granulated sugar 
and one table-spoonful of Paris green, mixed dry, a°nd 
laid it in their haunts on pieces of broken pots. In a 
fortnight they were completely banished from his 
houses. 
shown in the illustration, prepared from a photograph. 
In the portion of a plant shown at the Drill Hall, a 
piece of stem, less than 1 ft. in length, bore three 
fruits, averaging about 4 lbs. weight each. Needless 
to say it was awarded a First Class Certificate. The 
stock of seeds has been acquired by Messrs. J. Veiteli & 
Sons, who will send it out in the coming season, and to 
whom we are indebted for the opportunity of illustrating 
it in our columns. 
-- 
SEASONABLE NOTES ON Pro¬ 
pagating-. 
In the notes on propagating that will appear at short 
intervals, I should like it to be distinctly understood 
that the whole of the matter will be given from a 
practical and not a theoretical point of view. If the 
instructions given at various intervals are carried out, 
or within a few weeks of the time mentioned, a certain 
amount of success will be sure to follow the care and 
labour spent in propagation. I shall endeavour to 
place the separate items as distinctly as possible before 
the readers of The Gardening World, and should 
there be anything stated that does not appear plain on 
the surface, I will endeavour to make it so, provided 
a note is sent requiring an explanation. To proceed 
with the work of winter propagation it is necessary, as 
I stated before, that the propagating house should be 
the whole of the plants the full depth of the pot into a 
good sharp bottom-heat, keeping close for a few weeks, 
by which time they will have filled the pot with roots, 
and may be gradually hardened down. The majority 
of these bits that have been cut up will make nice 
healthy plants during the following summer, providing 
they are kept in a nice growing heat, finally hardening 
off to greenhouse temperature by the autumn. Being 
plants that are in great demand for decorative purposes 
no pains should be spared to obtain a good healthy 
stock of Aspidistra lurida, and its variegated forms. 
Another good plant that is very serviceable, but 
which has not such coriaceous foliage as the pre¬ 
ceding, is 
CuRCULIGO RECURVATA. 
This plant, with its finely striped variegated form, 
makes long, recurved leaves, varying from 3 ft. to 5 ft. 
in length, and 3 ins. to 6 ins. in width, according to 
the strength of the plant ; they are entire and corru¬ 
gated the full length, and of a good dark green colour, 
except the variegated form, which is distinctly striped 
with a creamy white variegation, and which makes 
them very useful plants for decorative purposes. They 
are much used, either in a small state, with one plant 
in a pot, or in larger form, with one good central piece, 
and a number of young offshoots springing up round 
the outside of the pot. It is by these offshoots that the 
