456 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
March^ 17, 1894. 
heavy mulching of well rotted manure. Water 
copiously in dry weather and the roots will be ready 
during October, when they may be left in the open 
ground through the winter if protected from frost. 
But the simpler plan is to remove them under cover 
before severe frost sets in, removing some of the 
leaves at the same time and taking care to exclude 
frost. If by February the roots commence to grow 
give them a check by removing them ; as no earthing 
up is required, the labour attached to growing this 
crop is considerably less than that incurred in the 
growing of Celery.—G. 
- .fm - 
|aRDEN 1NG fllSCELLANY. 
PEAT MOSS LITTER. 
Seeing your reply to a correspondent on the subject 
of Peat Moss litter at p. 424, I am tempted to send 
you my experience for the benefit of anyone else 
who may be similarly situated. Some years ago I 
was short of leaf soil, and thought I would try 
Peat Moss litter as a substitute. I accordingly got 
some from the stable in a moderately dry condition, 
and mixed it up with the compost for striking 
cuttings in cold pits and frames in the autumn. 
When the spring came, I found I had scarcely a 
plant alive, and on examining the soil found that 
wherever there was Moss litter, there the soil was 
full of small white maggots, and needless to say, I 
have not used it as a substitute for leaf soil since.—- 
W. Boote, Quarry Hill, Accrington, Lane. 
BEES AS FERTILISERS. 
I don't at all quarrel with "F” because he writes 
on this subject as the champion of the insects with the 
stealing proboscis, and the stinging tail; but I can¬ 
not at all follow him in his reference to snapdragons, 
when he thinks that Nature was extravagant in 
making the flowers of such gorgeous hues just to 
attract bees to conduct fertilisation. I have yet to 
learn that we have to thank Nature for any of the 
gorgeous hues found not merely in Snapdragons, but 
in myriads of other flowers, and the flower of the 
Snapdragon in a state of Nature is one that is small 
and comparatively unattractive. The Snapdragons 
of to-day have been evolved by the florists for the en¬ 
joyment of man, and not by Nature. If gorgeous 
colours were devised by Nature to attract bees or 
insects, how is it that the common scarlet Poppy of 
the fields, so brilliant in colour, needs no insect 
agency to assist in its fertilisation ? Perhaps we may 
next be told that Nature secretes honey in flowers ex¬ 
pressly to feed bees, and pollen to furnish them with 
brood food.— D. 
CYRTOCERAS REFLEXUM. 
This very beautiful stove climber is only now and 
then seen among collections of stove plants. It is 
closely allied to the Hoyas and is sometimes knowm 
as Hoya coriacea, and it is now a long time since I met 
with it in flower. Among the many beautiful things 
known as Hoyas this is certainly one of the most 
beautiful, and as it is of very moderate growth and will 
flower when small, lovers of this class of plant will do 
well to add it to their collections. The colours are 
white and yellow, and it requires a stove temperature 
and to be grown in a mixture of fibrous peat and 
loam, with a fair admixture of coarse silver sand and 
small pieces of charcoal. Cuttings root freely in 
fine sifted peat made very sandy and put in a brisk 
bottom-heat under a bell glass.— W.B.G. 
IRIS BAKERIANA. 
The bulbous Irises have been enjoying a fine time 
of it during the winter which has now given place to 
spring. A good many of them are now in cultiva¬ 
tion, and find many admirers. The chief drawback 
to those that flover in winter is that they require 
the protection of a frame if we would see them in 
their full beauty. It is too much to expect the 
tender and delicate mechanism of flowers to with¬ 
stand the inclemency of our winter, and yet there 
are people who desire and expect them to be hardy. 
The plants are hardy enough, but the flowers get 
destroyed as one might expect. I. Bakeriana is in 
season during February and March, but sometimes 
blooms even in November if we have a mild season 
that encourages growth. In stature it is similar to 
I. reticulata, but has cylindrical, eight-angled, not 
square leaves, as in the latter species. The falls are 
deep violet towards the sides, while the central area 
is creamy-white blotched with violet. They consti¬ 
tute the most conspicuous part of the flower as in 
the allied kinds. The standards are very narrow, 
and, like the petaloid stigmas, are of a bluish-lilac. 
The flower as a whole measures 2 in. to 3 in. across, 
and is deliciously fragrant. It is a native of Armenia, 
near Mardin. Notwithstanding the comparative 
mildness of the winter some plants are only now 
flowering, and reward their possessors not only by 
their beauty, but by their delicate and .pleasing 
odour. 
SAINTPAULIA lONANTHA. 
The above name establishes a new genus upon a 
plant which has been discovered in the district of 
Usambara, Central Africa. It belongs to the family 
of Gesneraceae, and in general habit and appearance 
reminds one at first sight of Ramondia pyrenaica. 
The leaves are roundly cordate, fleshy, pilose, bronzy- 
green above and rosy beneath. The flowers are widely 
expanded, with two lobes directed backward and 
the three larger ones directed forward, reminding 
one of a Violet both in shape and colour ; individu¬ 
ally they measure about ij in. across. The leaves 
hug the soil, forming a loose rosette, while the branch¬ 
ing and naked flower stems rise a little above them, 
forming a mass of open flowers. The latter are of a 
beautiful sky-blue, darker when young and towards the 
centre, where the golden yellow stamens show them¬ 
selves in a conspicuous manner by contrast with the 
delicate tints of the corolla. The blooms are pro¬ 
duced in succession over a long period of time. 
The plant may be grown much in the same way as 
Streptocarpus, and may be propagated from seed or 
from cuttings much in the same way as the members 
of the last-named genus. The Revue Horticole says 
that it will soon get disseminated into all the gardens 
of Europe. In the meantime, Herr Ernest Benary 
Erfurt has secured the whole stock of it. A wood- 
cut is given of it in the Italian journal, Bullettino 
della K. Societa Toscana di Orticultura for January. 
This represents a dwarf and very floriferous plant, 
with an interesting appearance. Since the above was 
written, we have seen the plant in Messrs. Veitch's 
nursery, at Chelsea. 
ABUTILON ECLIPSE. 
A GOOD many gardeners are familiar with the foliage 
and flowers of A. megapotamicum (vexillarium) as 
well as its variegated variety, the latter being 
perhaps the best known. The variety under notice 
is a hybrid, of which the seed parent is evidently A. 
megapotamicum variegatum, and probably crossed 
with A. Darwinii. The leaves of the hybrid are 
much broader than the former, and they are very 
downy, pointing to A. Darwinii. The flowers have 
suflered a similar compromise or mixing, and are 
very pretty. The calyx is shallowly five angled, and 
orange coloured instead of red. The corolla is 
bell-shaped and yellow, with a deep purple claw to 
each petal, and shaded with red nerves externally. 
All these characters would point to the parents 
named. The numerous yellow blotches of the 
leaves, and the ornamental character of the flowers, 
should render the plant a favourite with those who 
have to keep up a display in the greenhouse or con¬ 
servatory during winter; the night temperature 
should be kept at qs'’ or 50° if the plant must be 
kept in flower. We noted it in the nursery of 
Messrs. J. Laing & Sons, Forest Hill. 
COAL DUST. 
I think that the value of coal dust for covering 
stages in stoves and Orchid houses is hardly so 
widely known as it should be. Having been familiar 
with the respective merits of Cocoa fibre refuse, sand, 
shingle and broken shells for a lengthened period, I 
can confidently recommend it as being superior to 
anything else I have ever used for the purpose. 
Once get it well saturated and it can be kept moist 
with little trouble. Shingle or fine gravel absorbing 
no moisture becomes dry in half the time that coal 
dust will, and Cocoa fibre soon gets into a dirty 
condition, besides, when it once gets dry it is more 
difficult to saturate than the fine coal, which has 
another advantage in being free from weeds. It 
gives off when moist a slight gaseous emanation 
which plants evidently enjoy.— W.B.G. 
NEPENTHES MIXTA. 
The finest thing amongst Pitcher plants of recent 
acquisition is the hybrid N. mixta. The ground 
colour is of a greyish green, but for the greater part 
is covered by irregular and interlocking crimson 
blotches. The annulus or collar is also a striking 
feature of the pitcher, being broad, reflexed, 
undulated at the edges, and finely ridged trans¬ 
versely. It is of a uniform, rich shining, crimson- 
brown, and adds much to the general appearance of 
the whole. The Pitchers seem to be getting larger 
every year. We measured a specimen in the nursery 
of Messrs J. Veitch & Sons. Chelsea, and which was 
close upon ii in,, independently of the operculum or 
lid which is likewise larger than usual. Grown in 
baskets and suspended from the roof of a stove, 
plants of this character serve to give no ordinary 
interest to the collection, as well as adding much to 
the general effect of the whole. ' 
HAEMANTHUS MULTIFLORUS. 
The most common name for this plant in gardens 
is H. kalbregeri, but whatever name is used the fact 
remains, that it is one of the prettiest species of the 
genus we possess. The bulbs are covered all over 
with crimson-purple spots, and when left partly 
exposed they are pretty. The flower scapes spring 
from amongst the scales of the bud. right away from 
the centre crown of leaves, and rise to a height of 
10 in. to 12 in. The numerous flowers of the umbel, 
are so arranged that they form a globular mass, 
the narrow spreading segments of one flower partly 
interlace with those of another forming a pretty 
effect. They are rose-coloured, and form a contrast 
with the erect, crimson filaments, yellow ovaries, 
red or pink pedicels and yellow anthers. It is 
flowering beautifully in the warm rockery house or 
stove of Messrs J. Veitch & Sons, Chelsea. Stove 
temperature is necessary for it as it is a native of 
Tropical Africa, over a large area of which it grows. 
- ^ - 
txrxim ®)0rlD 
Rainfall Records in the British Isles.—On the 
28th of February last a paper was read before the 
Society of Arts, by Mr. G. J. Symons, F.R.S., the 
well-known meteorologist. He stated that forty 
years ago a paper was read on the subject by Air. 
Bailey Denton, who dwelt upon the " Advantages of 
a Daily Register of Rainfall,” and proposed that a 
central office should be established with paid 
observers and inspectors. For a station for every 
five square miles of the .British Isles he computed 
that the cost would not exceed £26,000, and half that 
cost for a station to every ten square miles. That 
burden had never been laid upon the country, but 
notwithstanding something very nearly like Mr. 
Denton's proposition had been realised. Air. 
Symons then related the circumstances which led 
him to identify himself with the rainfall, and to the 
collecting of statistics for 1859. and which he 
published in the Builder for i860. During the latter 
year he had about 16S stations in England and 
Wales, and since then the stations have increased 
in number to 2,850 in 1892. Of these, 2,113 are in 
England, 177 in Wales, 368 in Scotland, and 192 in 
Ireland. With exception of Ireland, in which he 
found great difficulty in working up a staff of 
observers, the other countries were pretty well 
planted with stations, although he confessed that 
many of them were rather thickly placed about 
towns and other densely populated areas. 
Rain Gauges.—Besides organising stations for 
observations. Air. Symons with his numerous 
assistants had been engaged in the making of 
experiments as to the best form and size of rain 
gauge. They have tried gauges of all sizes, from 
I in up to 6 ft. square, and they find that in no case 
do they differ as much as five per cent, in the 
results. The principal danger is that the large ones 
are liable to make the rainfall more heavy than it 
really should be on account of the e.xcessive con¬ 
densation of dew. About eighty per cent, of the 
gauges now in use are 5 fn. in diameter, and most of 
the rest about 8 in., so that these sizes are con¬ 
sidered the most generally useful. 
Wettest Stations in the British Isles.—The 
average rainfall in London and the neighbourhood 
is 24 in., being amongst the smallest for this country; 
but in other parts of the country the variation is 
very great. At a place called Seathwaite, at the 
head of Borrowdale and not far from Keswick, the 
average rainfall of a long series of years is 140 in. a 
