March 29, 1890. 
THE GARDENING WORLD- 
475 
A mixture of peat and loam is generally recommended, 
with, plenty of sand—a truly admirable mixture for 
very many plants, but not for the one under notice ; it 
may do fairly well for a time, but no permanent good 
will be attained by attempts to grow it in a mixture of 
this kind. Turfy loam from a pasture, with a slight 
admixture of mortar rubbish, is preferable to any other 
compost, whether the plants are grown in pot or border. 
The latter place is far the best for this plant, and is the 
only plan which we have ever seen thoroughly successful. 
It is not necessary to give it a very wide border, 18 ins. 
to 24 ins. being ample ; but it should be well made by 
removing the soil 2 ft. in depth, and providing abun- 
. dant drainage with brick and mortar rubbish. 
The best time to plant this subject is just as growth 
is commencing. Train the shoots out singly, and on 
no account allow them to become entangled. Shade 
slightly. Prune after the leaves have fallen, and 
before the sap rises in the spring, retaining only well- 
ripened wood. During summer attend well to watering, 
while in winter it should be kept moderately dry. It 
is propagated by seeds, when obtainable, sown in gentle 
heat, and by cuttings of the small side shoots about 
3 ins. in length taken off close to the old wood. Put 
the cuttings into sandy soil, and then place under a 
bell-glass in a mild bottom-heat. It is a native of 
Buenos Ayres, where it is sometimes subjected to 
several degrees of frost for a few hours. This, coupled 
with our own experience, leads us to believe the plant 
would survive the generality of our winters in an 
unheated structure ; and flowering as it does during the 
latter part of summer and early autumn, affording a 
supply of choice white flowers at a time when they 
frequently are comparatively scarce,- it claims more 
attention than it has been receiving during recent 
years.— IV. B. G. 
--- 
DAFFODILS IN POTS. 
One of the most interesting features of the recent spring 
show at Bath were the collections of single Daffodils in 
pots. Prizes were offered for collections of twelve pots, 
but with no limitation as to varieties, the result being 
two pretty collections of well-grown and bloomed plants 
of some of the leading varieties of the trumpet section, 
such as Emperor, Empress, Horsfieldi, Golden Spur, 
Countess of Annesley, Sir Watkin, Spurius, and one or 
two others. Now anyone with a cold house or frame 
can grow a few Daffodils in pots, if my own experience 
is any justification for saying so. In November last I 
potted up some bulbs of a few leading varieties, such as 
Spurius, Golden Spur, Princess, Emperor, &c., placing 
three bulbs in a 6-inch pot, using good soil, and almost 
burying the bulbs beneath the surface. 
When potted these were placed in a cold frame, and 
there they remained all the winter until they began to 
show their flower buds, when they were taken into my 
cold house to bloom, and they are doing so grandly. 
As I write I have before me a vase of blooms of Sir 
Watkin, Spurius and Golden Spur, set up with sprays 
of Myrtle, and a delightful posy they make. As the 
heat of a room lit up by gas at night affects the 
duration of the bloom, they are carried away before 
this is done, and thus their beauty is prolonged. I may 
state that Princess, Emperor, Empress, Horsfieldi, 
Princess Mary of Cambridge, and one or two others have 
yet to bloom, but they give a succession which is of a 
desirable character. No artificial heat is necessary, 
unless it is required to have the flowers a few weeks 
before the ordinary time, but forcing can scarcely be 
resorted to without causing the flowers and leaf-stalks 
to become drawn, and then I think they lose much of 
their natural beauty. 
When the Daffodils have gone out of flower, the pots 
will be stood on an ash-bed, and allowed to ripen their 
bulbs. When the foliage has died down, the bulbs will 
be shaken from the soil, and be put away in a cool 
place, and carefully preserved for potting in November. 
— R. D. 
Sea Kale.—F resh plantations may now be made, 
using the fleshy roots cut up into lengths of 4 ins. 
Plenty of these should have been obtained, and stored 
in some convenient place and covered with soil, when 
crowns were being lifted for forcing. By using stout 
pieces of root only they will make crowns sufficiently 
large for lifting and forcing by November next. Seeds 
may also be sown in nursery lines for future trans¬ 
plantation. 
Figs on the Open Wale. —Where protection has 
been given during winter the coverings may be removed, 
and the trees pruned. Remove weak unfruitful shoots, 
together with those that flowered last year, so as to 
allow what is left a fair proportion of light. 
rARDENING MISCELLANY. 
The Shamrock. 
The question is frequently raised as to what plant 
should be considered the true Shamrock. It seems to 
be a matter of no consequence, seeing that any Trefoil 
would have served the purpose of St. Patrick just as 
well as any other, and it is more than likely that he 
paid no attention to the identity of the species. If any 
botanist had been present to identify the plant he made 
use of, it would have been possible to associate the 
name Shamrock to perpetuity with one species only. 
It is more than probable, however, that the determi¬ 
nation never having been made, the opportunity is now 
lost for ever. There are four or five different plants 
with which the name is associated, namely, Oxalis 
Acetosella, Trifolium repens, T. filiforme, T. minus, and 
Medicago lupulina. The two latter are chiefly worn 
about Dublin on St. Patrick's Day. Consignments 
sent last year and the present, direct from Dublin to 
residents in England, turned out to be Medicago 
lupulina. Specimens sold in Covent Garden Market at 
3 d. and 4 cl. each, seemed to be Trifolium repens. In 
some parts of Scotland T. repens purpureum is grown 
in gardens and considered to be the true Shamrock. The 
Gaelic and Irish name for White Clover (Trifolium 
repens) is seamar bhan. The first word is also variously 
written as sameir, siomrag, seamrag, and seamrog, and 
all mean Shamrock. The words seamrog and seamrag 
are also appliedto Oxalis Acetosella, and mean “little 
gentle one,” an appropriate term for the Wood-sorrel. 
Whether this was the plant employed by St. Patrick 
for illustrating his sermon might be determined by the 
nature of the locality in which he was preaching, as the 
Oxalis in question grows in shady positions, generally 
in woods ; whereas all the others grow in meadows, 
pastures, and by waysides.— F. 
Caladiums in Small Pots. 
Some Caladium leaves recently received from Mr. 
Milner, of Heathfield, Kent, afforded an excellent 
illustration of what can be done in small pots by good 
cultural treatment. Two of the largest leaves measured 
22 ins. or more in length by 16 ins. in width, and had 
been grown in 7-in. pots. This is even of more im¬ 
portance when we consider that this was in the middle 
of March, and therefore early. Mr. Milner uses a 
compost of good sandy loam mixed with rotted cow- 
dung, and must give them a good exposure to light, for 
they were of good texture, and the blotches and other 
colouration already well brought out. The measure¬ 
ments were taken after transit by post, and after they 
had lain for some time in our office, where they had 
become somewhat shrunk, so that the measurements 
above given are under rather than over the real sizes. 
The Chinese Sacred Lily. 
The so-called Lily is not a Lily at all, but Polyan¬ 
thus Narcissus ; but of quite distinct growth and 
flowering characteristics, to be noted immediately. Your 
contemporary, The Garden, says they are similar to 
P. N. Grand Monarque. The flowers resemble each 
other in form and colour, but there the similarity ends. 
Grand Monarque is three times the size of the “ joss ” 
blooms, while the Sacred Lilies, so prized by the Chinese 
ladies, produce five times as many blooms, and with 
the richest perfume. Again, Grand Monarque, which 
I consider peerless among Polyanthus Narcissi, would 
utterly fail if treated like the Sacred Lilies, by being 
planted in bowls of sand and water, or, as I grew 
some of mine most; successfully, in Hyacinth glasses 
filled with common river-sand and water. Much the 
best results are, however, attained by growing them 
like ordinary Polyanthus Narcissi, potting up in a 
mixture of two-thirds loam and leaf-soil, and the 
remainder, or even a larger fraction, pure sand. Cover 
the bulbs about two-thirds, and see they never want 
for water. If placed in a temperature seldom exceeding 
50°, say first week in December, they will be in bloom 
before the end of January—a result that will not be 
attained by any ordinary Narcissus, no matter how 
forced. This rapidity of blooming in the dead time of 
the year is, to my mind, the chief commendation of 
the Chinese Sacred Lily. Several queries have been 
asked as to how to ripen them for use next season. If 
grown in sand and water, with little light or sun, 
indoors, most satisfaction to the peace of the mind will 
arise by discarding them altogether, or planting them 
out with Hyacinths, as most probably they would not 
flower next year. If grown as I have grown the 
majority of mine, in leaf-soil and sand in pots, and 
when done blooming transferred to the flower-garden 
beds until matured, they may be expected to flower 
finely next season, though hardly so good as those 
imported.— IV. J. Murphy, Clonmel. 
Specimen Plants of Mignonette, &c. 
These are wonderfully well done at Nash Court, 
Faversham. Some fine well-grown specimens 2 \ ft. 
to 3 ft. through are clothed with foliage, and bear 
fine spikes of flowers. Such plants as these are grand 
for conservatory decoration. Eupatorium riparium is 
equally well done ; fine specimens, well grown, 3£ ft. 
through, and full of flower spikes, will shortly be one 
mass cf flowers. Lachenalias likewise receive attention, 
both for pot or basket work. The suspending baskets 
are fine objects just now. They are especially well 
done by Mr. Humphrey, the gardener.— Rusticus. 
Scutellaria Mocciniana. 
This fine stove plant should be more extensively grown, 
as it is most useful for the decoration of the stove in 
the early spring. I was much struck with the beauty 
of this plant at Nash Court, Faversham, its bright 
orange and scarlet flowers being very attractive. 
Yanda suavis varieties and V. tricolor varieties are also 
just now in perfection here, many young well-grown 
plants and fine varieties flowering most freely, and in a 
dwarfer state than is generally seen —plants from 1 ft. 
to 2 ft. carrying as many spikes, and scenting the 
house with their sweet perfume.— Rusticus. 
Polyanthus Harbinger. 
This beautiful and early-flowering variety has been 
well named Harbinger, for we noted it in full array 
the other day at Ham House, Petersham, and Mr. 
G. H. Sage, the gardener, assured us that it had been 
flowering all the winter. As a matter of course it is 
under glass in a greenhouse temperature ; but if we 
could get a race of Polyanthus that would behave in 
that way it would be a great acquisition to hardy 
plant lovers, who could maintain a gay appearance in 
a house kept at a low temperature. Surely a race 
could be raised from it by cross-breeding and selection, 
and which would possess the early-flowering properties 
of the parent to a greater or less extent. The flowers 
are pure white, with a five-lobea golden yellow eye, 
and are produced in true Polyanthus fashion, that is, 
with numerous flowers in an umbel upon a common 
stalk, notwithstanding the fact that it is sometimes 
spoken of as a Primrose. 
Daphne Blagayana. 
The flowers of this species lack the brilliant colour of 
those of D. Mezereum, nor are they produced in such 
profusion ; but the plant is in itself a choicer subject, 
being dwarf, procumbent or nearly so, and evergreen. 
It is, therefore, well adapted for planting on the rockery 
without danger of its growing coarsely or smothering 
down other plants in its vicinity, for the shoots are of 
slow growth. The usual height is about 1 ft., but a 
young plant will take some years to attain that size. 
The flowers are tubular, with a spreading limb, pure 
white, excepting the yellow anthers, and produced in 
dense terminal heads, unlike those of the species above 
mentioned, where they are produced all along the sides 
of the leafless stems. They are also deliciously 
scented with an odour like that of a Pink. It is of 
comparatively recent introduction from the mountains 
of Eastern Europe, and seems quite hardy, in the 
south at least, for it has been flowering for some time 
on the rockery at Kew. 
Young Leaves of Cinnamon. 
"We are accustomed even in this dull climate of ours to 
some very bright tints amongst the unfolding leaves of 
trees in spring ; but in the tropics brightly-tinted 
unfolding foliage is of much more frequent occurrence. 
The leaves of Cinnamomum zeylanicum are ovate, 
ample, three-nerved, and leathery. When they first 
expand they are semi-transparent, quite limp, satiny, 
and hang down as if suffering from drought. In a 
short time, however, they become firmer, more yellow, 
and beautifully tinted with rosy pink, deepening to red 
at the margin. The rapidity with which they expand 
and attain full size is another trait of tropical trees. 
The Prizes for Vegetables at the Reading 
Shows. 
In reference to the letter which appears in your current 
issue, touching prizes we are offering at the Reading 
Horticultural Society’s show this season, we should 
like to point out that there is a restriction placed on 
